The sun is shining brightly and the summer is scorching.
On the post road that has been in disrepair for a long time, the crisscrossing ruts are clearly visible.
On the "mountain" between the ruts, dogtail grass sways in the wind, and unknown wild flowers dot it.
There are dense bushes on both sides of the post road, in which there are flowers, wild fruits, leaves and buds that are favorites of small animals.
The bushes extended far away, gradually connecting to rolling hills and transitioning into tall and deep forests.
"Crash!" A carriage drove along the ruts, splashing mud and water, and all the flowers and plants fell to the ground.
After the carriage passed, Dogtail Grass just straightened up, and soon a second car arrived...
Cars come one after another, in a mighty and endless way, as if there is no end.
After the car passed by, there was a large group of cavalry.
They silently led their horses and advanced on foot.
The foxtail grass was finally trampled to the ground and became part of the soil.
The cavalry marched for who knows how long, but another carriage followed.
After the carriage passed, came the infantry, and the infantry was followed by the carriage...
I don’t know how long it took, but the marching crowd suddenly stopped.
The messenger passed by at high speed, conveying the orders one after another.
The officers also sent out their own boy servants to inspect various places.
The birds in the forest fluttered up and looked down at the earth.
Under the blue sky in the north, there are green grass and picturesque mountains and rivers.
And on this landscape painting, groups of "ink stains" are spreading out, covering every corner of the painting.
If you look carefully, you will see that this is a sea of ​​black cavalry. They run from north to south and are so large that they almost completely surround the more than 2,000 infantrymen who are marching.
But the infantry advancing from south to north responded early.
Based on the terrain, they built a temporary defensive position with sidecars and antlers as the core. They were equipped with bows and crossbows, and the infantry dared to fight.
The wave of cavalry passed by the sides of the carriage and the antlers, just like the waves passing by the rocks, helpless.
Ji Shou sat on the soft haystack and said to himself: "Yu Ju won't be killed by the rope, right? Otherwise, why is there no news at all?"
"Whoosh! Whoosh!" Two arrows flew over the head.
Ji Shou didn't pay attention at all and only looked at the incoming Xianbei people.
They circled in vain, cursing angrily.
Ji Ting laughed when he heard that. If you refuse to dismount and fight on foot, it is impossible for you to stop the army from marching north.
We had only walked more than forty miles, and we were still eighty miles away from Pingcheng, so I couldn't hold back my anger.
…
To the southeast of this "rock", more than two thousand infantry were surrounded by cavalry.
When they received the news from the scouts, they were marching near a village.
Zhao Huai, the leader of the Silver Spear Army, made a decisive decision. More than 2,000 people retreated into the village and occupied some of the houses, while vehicles were used to block the outside.
Unlike Jishou, a battle broke out here.
The Xianbei people dismounted and fought on foot. After a brief mobilization, they rushed forward howling.
As expected, they were repelled by the skilful Jin infantry.
After trying this twice, Chief Suotou looked at the two to three hundred corpses lying on the ground and felt his eyes go dark.
These people have been riding sheep since they were young, and then riding horses as they got older. They herd animals day after day, and their riding skills have reached the level of proficiency.
Someone was drunk and lying on the horse's back to go home. He was obviously confused, but his body instinctively made various movements without thinking about it to prevent himself from falling off the horse's back.
Several months of the year are the hunting season, and they will also hunt with the nobles to practice their archery skills.
During daily grazing, they also hunt and even drive away wild beasts such as wolves.
Such a cavalryman with excellent riding skills, excellent combination of man and horse, and superb archery skills was shot to death by Tian Shefu, who was wearing a yellow scarf when he dismounted and fought on foot. Is it a loss?
How many "yellow turban thieves" do you have to kill to make up for the loss of such an excellent cavalryman?
The nobleman sighed and ordered to retreat.
Fortunately, the cavalry still had the initiative to fight or not to fight. If the cavalry did not want to fight, these Jin infantry could not do anything to them.
but--
This initiative has slowly disappeared.
When the Jin army arrived at Pingcheng, did they really have a choice? Yu Ju launched a tragic attack at the foot of Guangwu City. Did he want to fight? No, it was because his cavalry had no choice but to take the initiative.
Attack, there is no other way.
…
"We can't find any news about Pingcheng again." Wang Que'er stood by the well, scooped up a ladle of cold water and took a swig.
The Xianbei people sent a large number of light cavalry to cover the roads, intercept and kill messengers, drive away the rangers, and firmly blocked all news within fifty miles around Pingcheng.
You don't know where his army is gathering.
You don't know if or when he will come to beat you.
You can't tell the other person's true intentions from clues.
Some people in the army believed that this was a precursor to Xianbei launching a large-scale attack, but this was just a guess.
Today, more than 40,000 Xianbei cavalry surged southward, which seems to confirm this conjecture.
However, these 40,000 cavalry were able to capture the scouts, and the Jin infantry who had been warned by the cavalry had no choice but to circle around them in the end and retreat in embarrassment.
Their only result was to hinder the Jin army to the maximum extent, reducing their marching speed to less than ten miles a day.
In addition, thousands of horsemen rushed to Xinping and even Yinguan and other places to see if it was possible to cut off the Jin army's food routes and cause them to collapse without a fight.
However, considering the existence of a large number of Wuhuan "rebels", it seems that Qingqi's deep raids behind enemy lines have become a dangerous job, making it difficult for the grassland tactics that have been passed down orally since ancient times to work——
To put it simply, elite cavalry are sent to the front, fighting and walking, luring step by step, and letting the enemy follow behind them in pursuit. The battle line becomes longer and longer, and the troops become more and more dispersed.
For Xianbei in Pingcheng, this move is difficult to implement unless the Wang family is persuaded to betray the Shao thief...
"Captain." The sound of horse hooves sounded outside the courtyard. A messenger jumped off the horse and said: "Your Majesty's military order."
Wang Queer wiped her hands, took it, opened it, and was a little surprised.
"Send the order, Yi Congjun marches forward to clear the way, don't hesitate." Wang Queer gave the order to his staff.
****
For the nobles in Pingcheng, the news that the Jin army was approaching was really upsetting.
On the 27th, the vanguard of the Jin army was less than 70 miles away from Pingcheng.
The cavalry from various tribes sent to harass them killed and wounded more than a thousand people. Some leaders of small tribes simply escaped halfway and never returned to Pingcheng.
Although the large tribes did not flee, they secretly transferred the property of the old, weak, women, children, cattle and sheep.
On the 28th, the Jin army was still more than fifty miles away from Pingcheng.
After harassing various tribes, more than 3,000 cavalry were killed and injured, but there was still nothing they could do against the Jin infantry. The only result was the defeat of the Jin cavalry who opened the way.
Helan Aitou worshiped the heaven in the grassland, and the momentum was so great that some tribes near Pingcheng left the pasture and went to seek refuge.
Of course, more people went south to join the Wang family. After all, everyone was from Wuhuan and easy to talk to.
On the 29th, the Daxi family surrendered tens of thousands of people to Prince Feng of the county.
This was news that shocked everyone in Pingcheng.
The Daxi family originally kept the broken ones, and their fighting ability was good. They fought with Chen Yougen, and won more than they lost. But after winning, they surrendered - of course they couldn't vote for Shao Xun, they voted for the agents of Wang's mother and son.
Wang Feng.
Almost on the same day, the shepherd official (born in the Daxi family) who was grazing in the Mushui (Yuhe) and Yangshui (silt river) areas rushed eastward with tens of thousands of horses and presented them to Wang Feng - obviously, this matter had been planned.
Long.
As soon as these two incidents came out, everyone smelled something unusual.
On the 30th, the Jin army was less than thirty miles away from Pingcheng.
Qi fell ill and died in the palace in Pingcheng.
Her hair turned completely white overnight, and she seemed to have figured out a lot of things.
"That bitch Mrs. Wang is the second me, haha." Ms. Qi was lying on the couch, looking at the roof with dull eyes: "It really seems like that."
Tuoba congratulated Li but stopped talking.
Is now the time to consider such a thing? I want to go back to Dongmugen Mountain. Mother, please nod and agree.
Unfortunately, Qi had already fallen into her own emotions and was still saying: "Why can't we win? It's more than three hundred miles from Pingcheng to Yanmen, and there's no way to cut it off within these three hundred miles?"
"If Yu Wenqiu is not diligent, if you continue to wait and see, you will be next."
"People's hearts are in confusion. The one Shao Shao can defeat most is not the Silver Spear Army, but that bitch Wang. Without her to surrender and accept the rebels, Shao's future would have been cut off."
Tuoba Heli didn't want to listen to his mother's nonsense anymore.
He walked out cautiously - even now, he was still a little afraid of the Qi family - and tried to discuss with his younger brother Huna.
Pingcheng is no longer a suitable place to stay.
If that doesn't work, they can go back to Dongmugen Mountain. If they can't stay there, then they can go to Ruyuan.
The tribes there will support themselves no matter what - no, more accurately, they will support their mother Qi.
Just like the many Wuhuan people recruited by the Wang family, their allegiance is not even to Tuoba Shiyijian, but to Shiyijian's mother Wang. The problem of the mother's power being too strong has always been a long-standing problem of Tuoba Xianbei.
Now, far away, there is a fight between Concubine Lan and Concubine Lan. Nearby, there is a fight between Mrs. Qi and Mrs. Wang. If things continue like this, I may have to kill the mother and keep the son in order to be at ease.
In the past few days, Tuoba Heli has been listening to the thoughts of his close ministers.
Few people were fools, and many people pointed out that if he ran to the grassland, Thief Shao might not pursue him. He might even hope that He Li was still alive and could still gain support from some people on the grassland.
He Li nodded repeatedly when he heard this, wishing he could pack his bags now and return to Dongmugen Mountain first. However, his younger brother He Na thought that if he ran away without fighting, he might be killed on the way - of course, he still didn't say a word,
Even if you lose the battle, you may be killed.
After hearing this, Tuoba Helai hesitated again. In addition, his mother fell ill and was unable to walk, which made him even more upset.
On the first day of July, the Jin army left the city more than ten miles away.
Tuoba Hena personally led his troops south to attack, and the Yi Congjun attacked again. The two sides fought more than ten battles, each losing no less than 2,000 cavalry, which was very tragic.
Since the Northern Expedition of the Yi Cong Army, they have lost more than a thousand cavalry sporadically, and recently they have lost nearly 3,000 men. The army, which has just expanded its army for more than a year, has been basically crippled.
After nightfall on the second day of July, countless torches suddenly appeared in the wilderness south of Pingcheng, almost like stars in the sky.
The Jin army is coming.
Chapter completed!