"Bang!" The riding whip was swung down hard and broke into two pieces. The commander stared at the sergeant guarding the door angrily.
The sergeant staggered and grimaced in pain, but he quickly stood up straight again and remained silent, his hand already on the handle of the knife.
"Forget it, forget it." Someone patted Bu Da's shoulder and whispered: "Lao Yan (Mrs. Qi) will compensate you after we go back."
When the minister heard this, he breathed heavily for a long time before leaving. As soon as he left, his face immediately calmed down.
Of course, there are reckless people who can reach the top of a film, but there are also many people with quick minds.
They are all part-herding and part-farming tribes, and have always been part of the New Party. As the official flag of the New Party today, Mrs. Qi still has to give her face, because after all, Tuoba He is her son.
In this matter, I was angry, but Tuoba Yulu did nothing wrong.
He is the King of Dai and the nominal master of the entire Dai Kingdom. He can have tendencies, but he cannot turn a blind eye to the internal cracks and turn a blind eye. Who knew what Mrs. Qi would do if he deliberately allowed Tuoba Hena to be detained or even killed by the Jin people?
What happened? Do you want to make the internal divisions more obvious?
If you have this kind of thinking, then you are not qualified enough to be a leader.
You know, even if there are differences, the New Party will still follow you south to fight. Everyone is eating from the same pot, do you want to push people out?
Uniting more noble people has always been the most important task of the prairie monarch.
"Bah ah..." After the people left, many livestock also began to move.
During the heavy rain, the cattle and sheep were walking in a somewhat awkward manner, and their numbers were greatly reduced.
This war was ultimately a loss.
When not on expeditions, the shepherds lived off cow and goat milk.
After the expedition, because they had to fight, they could not rely solely on cow and goat milk. They had to supplement their diet with some meat, which required the slaughter of livestock.
Furthermore, after the rain, some livestock died of illness, which is also a loss.
War is, after all, a costly activity.
Amidst the chaos, the old, weak, women and children who were grazing in the rear and providing supplies to the army retreated first.
Then came the troops of the army, as well as the Wubao commanders and manor owners who were forced to support Tuoba Xianbei during the war.
I heard that Shao Xun often attacked those who surrendered to the enemy, so even though he was reluctant to give up, he still followed the Xianbei people to retreat with a dejected look. Along the way, the women and children were crying and miserable.
Did they do something wrong? Maybe. But not everyone can face it calmly between life and death.
Tuoba Yulu led a group of civil servants and military officers up to the high slope beside the road, looking south and then north.
Shao Xun was still very trustworthy, he stopped his troops when he said so and did not pursue them.
Of course, maybe he wouldn't be able to pursue him under such heavy rain.
"Your Majesty." Wei Xiong coughed.
"What's up?"
"After we return, we must appease the tribe." Wei Xiong said softly.
Tuoba Yulu was silent for a long time and did not speak.
Wei Xiong was too lazy to say more, he had already reminded him anyway.
As for how to comfort him, he doesn't need to worry about it. Everyone has different ways of doing things.
Grassland tribes in the past dynasties did not succeed in every robbery. They might lose money, and they might lose money several times in a row. What should they do at this time?
Not everyone can be a leader. Compensation, balance and even charisma are all very important.
Someone who has a strong personality, is eloquent, and can draw big pie, can make noble people endure losses and continue to work with him.
Tuoba Yulu has lost his charisma and cannot have cross-sect appeal and influence, so he has to spend real money to compensate.
His redemption of Tuoba Hena this time has eased the tense relationship with the New Party. However, a woman with a strong personality like Qi may not appreciate this, which Wei Xiong does not want to say more.
The old and weak women and children of the Jiodang tribe brought a large group of livestock to graze to provide meat, milk, cheese and even horses for the army, while their men fought on the front lines. All of these have been lost. If Yu Lu does not compensate, everyone will
There will be complaints.
To put it bluntly, Yu Lu himself is not very good at it.
Some heroes do not spend real money, but rely only on their past prestige to convince the public and suppress all opposition. But what prestige does Yu Lv have?
Not long after he came up, he only established his prestige once when he defeated the Tiefu Xiongnu. This time he went south with the intention of consolidating and expanding his prestige. However, he returned without success and lost five or six thousand troops. What else can he say?
As for Tuoba Xianbei as a whole, the number of people and livestock lost in this war was simply not worth mentioning. The biggest loss was the great loss of prestige of the new generation of leaders.
The system of the grassland relies heavily on male leaders. If the Tuoba clan does not find its own male leader, the politics will never be stable.
This loss is invisible and intangible, but it is very fatal.
****
"Boom!" The flood rushed down, washing away a large number of tents, equipment, horses and even people.
In the darkness, there were sounds of running and shouting everywhere.
After Shao Shen was awakened, he hurriedly led others to rescue him. But in the dark, how could it be so easy?
I kept busy until dawn, but I didn't save a few people. Instead, I lost a lot of money, and I was very tired.
After the sun gradually rose, everyone felt a little depressed.
The camping area was obviously not low and very safe, so why was it submerged by a sudden flood?
The mountains are far from as safe as they seem, especially those where it rains.
Shao Shen sighed and said: "Notify all camps and get on the road."
The messenger immediately went to deliver the order.
After hearing this, Duan Mobo's dark face finally softened.
At the time of the expedition, there were more than 5,000 people. After continuous marching, after the battle, there were more than 4,000 people left.
After walking around Zenmugu Castle, the enemy gradually discovered his whereabouts and followed closely.
The various tribes in the mountains are also on alert. They are setting up fortifications and moving around. In short, they are not as easy to deal with as before, and you will always have to pay a price.
To attack behind the enemy's rear is to be prepared and unprepared. Since the enemy is prepared, it is not worthwhile.
So they turned south and tried to escape the pursuit.
In the middle of the journey, I ran out of supplies and robbed a small tribe. However, this delayed my steps, exposed my whereabouts, and was bitten by the enemy again. After a fight, some died in battle, some were separated, and now there are only more than 3,000 people left.
.
To put it bluntly, those who are left behind or separated behind enemy lines have a lower chance of coming back.
With no guide and no supplies, there is a high chance that they will be surrounded and killed by the increasingly courageous tribes, or wiped out by the pursuing enemy troops. Even if the enemy does not find them, they will fall ill and starve to death in the mountains.
They are almost out of the mountains now.
When you climb up and look into the distance, you can faintly see the flat valley. If the prediction is correct, it should belong to Mayi County.
The sound of horse hooves soon sounded in the mountains.
Shao Shen got on his horse and roared away with his team.
The government soldiers followed closely behind, one person and three horses, galloping away.
A moment later, dozens of people followed, driving thousands of horses that looked tired and skinny.
Obviously, these replacement horses had not been grazed for long enough to gain fat, and they were forced to keep up with the large army.
There is no way, the pursuers are coming too quickly, and they have a place to change their horses and supply, but that doesn't mean you can too. This is the biggest difficulty when fighting behind enemy lines, because you don't have a stable supply point.
In the grassland tribes, women, old men, and young men can occupy a mountain pass and shoot bows and arrows from a high position.
As long as the arrow flies out, it is possible to kill the enemy.
If you can make a surprise attack, then make a surprise attack. If you can't make a surprise attack, you won't have time to fight them because the pursuers will arrive in an instant.
The dull sound of horse hooves came one after another, resounding throughout the valley.
While walking, some horses suddenly foamed at the mouth and fell dead on the road.
No one stopped. In this army, everything is expendable, whether men or horses.
After walking for half a day, the Luoyan Army and the Fu soldiers finally followed.
They stayed behind to block the pursuers.
Take advantage of the mountainous terrain and stagnant rivers to prevent enemy cavalry from pursuing them, ensuring that the large troops can escape smoothly.
On June 20, just after Shao Xun and Tuoba Yulu had negotiated peace, their savage-like troops finally broke out of the mountains and descended into the broad, flat basin (Datong Basin).
The number of cyclists in Mayi County has increased by more than several times.
As soon as they came out of the mountain, they saw dozens of riders resting their horses in the distance and patrolling.
After seeing them, some people boldly surrounded them, but they didn't get too close and just stayed far behind.
Some people rushed away, reporting everywhere and preparing to mobilize a large force to encircle and suppress them.
Shao Shen and others looked solemn. At this time, they no longer cherished their horse power. They threw away their obstructing luggage and ran towards the southwest.
On the 21st, we encountered an obstacle head on.
The Jin army returned home like an arrow and fought hard with the thieves. The commander of the army, Chen Tonggen, was hit by an arrow and died.
On the 22nd, they rushed to the north of Tianchi and met another group of enemy cavalry. The two sides fought in the wilderness, and the sound of killing was loud.
Liu Zhao, who was above Tianchi, saw this and personally led his tribe's light cavalry to attack, defeated Tuoba Xianbei, and welcomed Shao Shen and others in.
At this time, there were only more than two thousand soldiers and horses left, and more than half were lost.
Among those who did not come back, at most half were killed in the battle, and even more were scattered.
After the news was sent back to Shiling Pass, Shao Xun nodded and said nothing more.
The eldest nephew's group is considered to be the last unit to end the battle.
He didn't criticize him too much for losing more than half of his money.
During Huo Qubing's first battle in Hexi, he went deep behind enemy lines. Due to lack of experience and bad luck, he encountered many Xiongnu soldiers and fought frequently. Only 3,000 of his 10,000 elite cavalry came back, resulting in a loss of 7,000.
Things were much better the second time. Deep behind enemy lines, only 30% of the approximately 20,000 cavalry were lost.
The eldest nephew repeatedly circled the hills, valleys, and basins, sometimes fighting back and forth for nearly a thousand miles. In the end, he lost more than half of his troops. It was not bad, not bad.
On June 26, Shao Xun ordered the troops to regroup. At that time, the army had run out of food and only broth was left to eat.
When we arrived in Jinyang, we received news that there was an earthquake near Chang'an in May and a landslide in Zhongnan.
At this time, he finally understood the reason why the Xiongnu did not make a large-scale eastward advance.
In this little glacier climate and this geologically active period, life is not easy for everyone.
Chapter completed!