In the blue sky, there are white clouds and wild geese flying by in a row.
Above the ground, strong winds are blowing, and flags are flying.
Thousands of horsemen from both sides fought fiercely in the wilderness.
Liu Runzhong rushed to the battlefield with 1,500 cavalry to join the nearly 2,000 volunteer troops led by Yin Xi.
They were quickly discovered by the Xianbei Qingqi wandering outside.
The two sides distanced themselves and exchanged shots repeatedly on the wide field.
Under the shouts, from time to time someone fell down in response.
Liu Runzhong had already been hit by an arrow. The arrow was stuck in his armor and was trembling.
The Qingqi brought from Shangdang were shot down and more than a hundred people were killed. The losses were heavy.
For the first time, he discovered that the intensity of this cavalry fight was a bit high.
Why don't the Xianbei people retreat? Aren't you also a large army with a leadership system? Why do you continue to fight if you die and you suffer a loss?
Damn, he can hardly hold on any longer.
When gathering his troops again, Liu Runzhong turned to look at everyone and said: "No retreat! It's the time to grit your teeth and persist. Why retreat? Charge!"
The same tribal system, the same way of life, but the people are different, the difference is so big.
To put it bluntly, fighting in battle is about who can endure casualties more.
Judging from the moment of this confrontation, the Xianbei people seemed to be more tolerant than the Jie people.
Liu Runzhong actually wanted to retreat, but he didn't dare today.
If he could not stop these Xianbei cavalry archers and sit back and watch them attack the Yi Cong army together with the Xianbei shock cavalry, the Yi Cong army would be defeated miserably. This responsibility was not something he could bear.
After the trumpet sounded again, Liu Runzhong divided the men and horses into two groups. One group had three to four hundred horsemen. They abandoned their horned bows, took out their swords and shields, and rode their horses to join the melee fight. The other group of thousands of horsemen still circled and shot arrows with the Xianbei cavalry archers.
When the opportunity arises, they draw their swords and attack each other - the confrontation between mounted archers does not involve the use of arrows all the time. Sometimes they also use short soldiers to attack each other.
Behind them, the sound of drums seemed to be faintly heard.
That was the sound of a large group of infantry adjusting their formation as they advanced. Everyone knew that a large group of reinforcements was coming from behind the Jin army, but they didn't know how far away it was.
Under such a situation, the Xianbei people became more and more anxious as they fought. After finding that they could not defeat the Yi Cong army, their morale was somewhat low.
After Liu Runzhong made a desperate move and personally led hundreds of cavalry to cover them up, they finally lost confidence, turned their horses around, and retreated towards Shiling Pass.
There were still hundreds of horsemen in the city, but now they all dismounted and stood at the top of the city, looking hesitant, obviously not sure what to do.
"Go get the torch." A large army rushed to the top of the city. Looking at the cavalry from both sides who were walking hard along the hillside while shooting arrows at each other, he ordered: "I will light the fire as soon as I come back."
After that, he went straight down to the city, and then rushed down with the hundreds of cavalry stationed behind the city to meet his defeated troops.
They were very fast, and they found a good starting position. It was a gentle slope with higher terrain, and they could ride down directly.
During the charge, the momentum was so great that it directly smashed into pieces the pursuers of the Rebel Army who were going uphill and were moving slowly, causing heavy casualties.
After winning the battle, he did not hesitate to fight. With a whistle, he slowly returned to Shiling Pass with more than a thousand defeated troops.
After Yi Congjun retreated, he retreated hundreds of steps to form a formation.
The two sides, one on the mountain and one at the bottom, looked at each other.
Liu Runzhong rode up and found Yin Xi, and whispered: "General Yin, I think the rope head is about to run away."
Yin Xi had just personally led his troops to pursue him, and he held on tightly. He was almost killed by the fresh Xianbei troops rushing down the gentle slope.
If he hadn't given up his horse to him, he might not have been able to escape.
Seeing that Yin Xi was silent, Liu Runzhong said again: "General Yin, why should you blame yourself? This is how war is fought. Today you cheat me, and I will cheat you tomorrow. It's normal. After winning the battle, how can you not pursue it? Not pursue it.
You will be scolded. If you pursue me, encounter an ambush by thieves, and suffer a loss, you will also be scolded. This kind of thing is difficult to avoid, it all depends on luck."
Yin Xi's expression softened slightly, he glanced at Liu Runzhong and smiled.
This guy can comfort people.
Indeed, if you pursue someone in a desperate situation, how can you care so much? If you don't pursue it, the problem will be even bigger.
All I can say is that Suo Tou is too cunning and he is too unlucky.
"You just said that the rope head was going to run away -" Yin Xi had just finished speaking when he saw smoke pillars rising into the sky from Shiling Pass, and there was a faint light of fire coming out.
"This is what fighting in Suotou is like." Liu Runzhong added: "Although they are said to be powerful and dare to fight to the death, they still have the legacy of the Xiongnu. They like to lure the enemy deep and harass them repeatedly, making them tired and demoralized. They can only attack when the time is right.
decisive battle."
"They burned Shiling Pass, obviously because they didn't want to leave the complete city and residence for our army."
"Setting fire and then retreating is a tactic to lure the enemy, trying to pull the infantry brought by the king hundreds of miles away, then cut off the food road, encircle and annihilate them."
"I expect that there will be a strong stronghold set up at Yanmen to block my army, and the cavalry will be scattered on the left and right wings, just waiting to attack. They are used to this trick."
After hearing this, Yin Xi asked: "Do you think the king has no chance of winning this battle?"
"The odds of winning are not high, it's just a draw at most." Liu Runzhong shook his head and said, "If Xianbei sets up a barracks to defend the city, can it be won with the tens of thousands of infantry brought by the king?"
Yin Xi thought for a while, and realized that with more than 10,000 Silver Spear Army and Yellow Head Army troops, it might not be possible to attack the city, not to mention that it was impossible to attack the city with all the infantry. At most, thousands of people would be dispatched, so it would be even more impossible to attack the city.
Came down.
However, it is really dangerous to be unable to capture a city or a fortress, and to hold troops under a fortified city, and then be attacked repeatedly by the enemy's cavalry.
"Stop talking about this now." Yin Xi sighed and said, "Go up and put out the fire first."
****
On the 28th, the flag of "General Shao" had been planted on the head of Shilingguan City. Shao Xun climbed up and looked into the distance, looking at the cruising cavalry in the north, and asked: "Where are the Pingyang reinforcements?
"
"I've passed Xiurong and am heading upstairs," Zhang Bin replied.
"Tell them to change directions..." Shao Xun called his assistant and whispered a series of orders.
His assistant quickly finished writing it, and after checking that it was correct, he sent a messenger to take it away.
Zhang Bin was a little surprised. This fighting strategy is really...
"It's useless to come to Jinyang." Shao Xun said: "There are too few soldiers to fight. If the thieves guard the dangerous passes and fortified cities, there may be nothing they can do. Shao Shen only has ten thousand people along the way, and it may not be able to change the overall situation if he comes. It is better to
If you change the direction, you may gain something. By the way, the Luoyan Army should not come anymore and let Duan Mobo go and join Shao Shen."
Zhang Bin nodded slightly.
To defeat Tuoba and Xianbei requires the efforts of the whole country, but it is quite insufficient at the moment.
"Let's go." Shao Xun glanced at Zhang Bin and said with a smile: "Suotou retreats step by step, abandoning the outskirts of Jinyang first, then abandoning Yu County and Shiling Pass. Looking at the situation now, Jiuyuan County (today's Xinzhou)
I should also give up. He throws out so many sweet things, I will eat them first before talking."
While they were talking, a mixed formation of infantry and cavalry was already heading north outside Shiling Pass, heading straight towards Jiuyuan County, Xinxing County.
On the 30th, the deserted county was easily recovered.
Suotou fought with the Yi Congjun, each suffering hundreds of casualties and retreating north.
At this time, Shao Xun's military order arrived at Jiuyuan: the entire army should stop and guard the city. They are not allowed to advance north. Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed.
Jiuyuan is forty miles away from Shiling Pass and is the seat of Xingxing County.
Leave the city and go north fifty miles to Xinkou.
According to reports from the front, there seems to be a large army of cable-headed troops near Xinkou, numbering no less than 20,000. They have set up a stronghold on the mountain and camped in trees across the river.
Although Shao Xun did not know the specific troop deployment of Suotou, his years of combat experience told him that it was best not to fight at the enemy's chosen combat location.
It is becoming increasingly clear that Xinkou is Suotou's planned decisive battle location.
At this time, Xinkou had indeed become a sea of ​​soldiers.
A large number of herdsmen and servants recruited from Pingcheng, Xinping, Yanmen and other places are digging trenches, building earthen walls and repairing camps.
More than 10,000 infantrymen were stationed in camps and strongholds, intending to rely on rivers and mountains to consume the Jin troops, reducing their numbers and exhausting them.
The war horse neighed not far away.
Groups of cavalry selected their starting positions and hid in the valley near the infantry camp, behind the woods.
Once the Jin army failed to attack the fortress and retreated, they would charge with great force, killing as much of the Jin army's strength as possible.
Another part of the cavalry was sent further south to actively look for the Jin cavalry and consume them as much as possible.
As Shao Xun expected, this was their preset battlefield: to lure the Jin army hundreds of miles out of Shiling Pass, gather in the open wilderness between Xinkou and Shiling Pass, and annihilate them.
This is not a grassland style of play, but a variant strategy that mixes the Central Plains and grasslands.
The only question now is how the coaches of both sides decide.
On the first day of June, Tuoba Yulu came to Xinkou and climbed the mountain to look at the south.
In the flat basin, lush vegetation stretches as far as the eye can see.
Wubao and the village can no longer be found, as desolate as if a world-destroying plague had hit this place.
Will Thief Shao come yet?
Tuoba Yulu was a little unsure. He had preset a battlefield to annihilate the enemy, but the enemy did not come, which made him feel empty.
This is just like the Han Dynasty ambushing the Huns in Mayi, except that the two sides have reversed their roles.
What went wrong?
Or maybe Thief Shao is too sophisticated and doesn't want to put himself in danger?
Just change to a stupid young general. He can stop the troops outside the Xinkou, unable to advance, unable to retreat, and he can easily gain a great victory.
But if Shao Thief doesn't come, he will be in some trouble.
After several battles, more than 4,000 troops were lost.
The leaders of the various tribes will not care how many people Shao Thief killed or injured, they will only keep an eye on themselves.
Thinking of this, Tuoba Yulu became a little irritable.
If the confrontation between the two armies continues for a long time, the pressure on him will increase.
For no reason, he considered the previous proposal of the new parties: to stop fighting and make peace.
But the messenger seems to have been detained and has not returned...
On the second day of June, Shao Shen received the military order from Shiling Pass in the valley east of Xiurong.
After reading it several times, he did not hesitate and levied more than a thousand tribal light cavalry on the spot, along with a thousand volunteers and 500 Xue cavalry, and turned to the northwest.
On the fourth day of June, when they were approaching Lan Valley, two thousand riders of the Luoyan Army rushed in to join them.
On the fifth day of June, the entire army arrived in Langu County. After resting for a day, they took more than 2,000 soldiers with them and marched out of Caochengchuan.
Chapter completed!