It is already July, and the autumn air is crisp.
Unknowingly, the south wind changed to the north wind.
The first millet planted outside Pingcheng is almost mature. When the wind blows, the golden waves rise and fall, which is pleasing to the eye.
On the south bank of the Amniotic River (silt river), the Xianbei people finally appeared.
The millet that was about to mature could not be harvested, leaving them tossing and turning at night and unable to sleep. After struggling for a long time, a large group of people came from a distance to prepare for harvesting.
We had been busy most of the night last night and were still reluctant to leave after dawn. Everyone was waving their sickles to harvest as much food as possible.
The Xianbei people do not care about the yield per mu, nor do they cultivate deeply, nor do they have field management. They focus on planting extensively and harvesting little.
If you sow one seed, you will be satisfied if you can recover four grains. Even two or three grains are not unacceptable, because they really didn't invest much effort.
Correspondingly, because they do not pursue yields per acre, their sowing area is very large, and some acres are not even lightly cultivated, which makes people doubt whether one acre of land can harvest one grain.
Sowing is fun for a while, but harvesting is laborious.
The Xianbei people groaned and were so tired that they could not straighten their backs. However, their faces were still pale. They looked around from time to time, not knowing what they were worried about.
It was busy until noon, and the commander leading the team became more and more uneasy. He really did not dare to delay any longer, and immediately ordered all the grain to be loaded into trucks and to retreat quickly.
Although the herdsmen were reluctant, they still obeyed the order.
At this moment, the ranger who was on guard outside suddenly heard a noise, but the wormwood in the distance was too dense to see clearly. Feeling anxious, he rode up to the high slope and climbed up to take a closer look.
.
It doesn't matter if you don't look at it, but the sight of it scared the shit out of you.
In the endless wormwood, the figures of the cavalry were looming. He could not see how many people there were. He only felt that there were cavalry everywhere and wormwood everywhere. The men and horses merged with the grass and moved quickly in the grass.
A strong wind blew and large pieces of wormwood fell.
The ranger's eyes widened immediately. They were all densely packed with people, no less than two thousand.
It’s over! It’s all over!
He immediately galloped down the high slope. Under the surprised eyes of his companions, he jumped off the horse, stumbled to the foot of the tree, picked up the gong and started beating it.
The sound of "dang-dang" gongs passed over the wormwood, over the reeds, across the rivers, and resounded throughout the fields.
After a while, gongs sounded from all directions.
The cavalry who were on guard immediately mounted their horses and rushed towards the place where the gongs were the loudest.
The collision unfolded near the river beach.
The Huns cavalry who came all the way from Yijing Town rained down arrows, screams continued, and the ground was dyed red with blood.
"Wow!" A group of mixed Huns, Xianbei, and Di and Qiang cavalrymen from Puyang Mountain bravely crossed the river, scattered the hundreds of light cavalry who blocked them, and ran into the fields where the harvest had just been completed and only the stubble was left.
The Xianbei people hurriedly rushed towards the horses and vehicles, trying to take out weapons to resist. But how could the Jin army give them a chance? They only heard the sound of bowstrings one after another, and the Xianbei people who had just experienced the joy of the harvest screamed and fell to the ground one after another.
"Hey..." The sound of horse hoofbeats sounded again from the south, and more than a thousand Wuhuan Qingqi came from behind to cover them up.
The vigilant rangers had already joined the battle without anyone reminding them.
These Wuhuan cavalry belonging to the Wang family rushed into the Xianbei crowd with ease, killing them wantonly.
There is almost no suspense in the battle.
After a wave of raids, more than 600 Xianbei people were beheaded, and more than 2,000 strong men and women were captured.
The officer who directed the raid had a clear mind and was not blinded by the victory in front of him. Instead, he ordered the prisoners to be tortured and made them confess where they came from.
It didn't take long for hundreds of riders to leave the farmland, act as vanguards, and stalk towards the mountains to the northwest.
****
Forty miles north of Pingcheng, thousands of dejected Xianbei people were driven here and began to cut wood and carry earth to build city fortresses.
Yuan Xi looked at these people from a distance and suddenly asked: "What is the name of this city?"
"Liang Chang." Liu Kai, a member of the General's Mansion who came to convey the message, replied.
"Liang Chang..." Yuan Xi read it gently and said with a smile, "What a good name."
Liangchang is forty miles north of Pingcheng, on the north bank of the Amniotic River.
Historically, Murong Chui's successor was seriously injured in Shenhebei and his health failed. When he passed by this place, he became seriously ill, so he stopped for a short time and ordered the construction of this city, which was called "Yanchang City".
It can be seen from the name that this city placed his good expectations on him, but of course the final result was cruel.
Shao Xun ordered the construction of Liangchang City for no other reason than to prevent Helan Aitou from going south.
Recently, some Helan's cavalry appeared in the north, peeking into Pingcheng, so they had to do this.
As a result, the original tactics of besieging three buildings in Pingcheng were also changed, and Tuoba Heli's retreat was actually cut off, although he may not know it yet.
Yuan Xi didn't care about so much, he was just ordered to supervise the prisoners to build the city to prevent the Liang Wang army from being attacked by the enemy cavalry who suddenly arrived - it was very dangerous under the combination of internal and external forces and had to be guarded against.
"After building the city, what will happen to the captives?" Yuan Xi pointed at those people and asked again.
"The king has an order to move to Bianliang to serve as a household official slave." Liu Kai said in a low voice: "If anyone asks for it, the general will never agree."
Yuan Xi nodded slightly.
He is a warrior, but that doesn't mean he has no brains. Who wants to ask for it? Of course it's the Wang family.
He could see that while King Liang was besieging Pingcheng, he sent a large number of cavalry to plunder and arrest anyone they saw.
Ding Zhuang was taken to Pingcheng and forced to attack the city.
Cattle and sheep were used as military supplies to reduce the burden of transportation to the Central Plains.
The old, weak, women, children and some strong men built the city here and had to be moved away after completion.
It can be said that there are some changes compared to the time when we left Yanmen Pass.
At that time, tribesmen came to surrender one after another, and Shi Yiqiang's mother and son were full at once. In addition, Wang's group was too weak, and King Liang also wanted to support them, so he didn't arrest many people.
At this point, the methods became more intense.
Yuan Xi asked, most of these prisoners were from the Tuoba tribe, one of the ten surnames of Tuoba. Killing, enslaving the men, and moving away the old, weak, women and children would greatly weaken the strength of the Tuoba tribe. Even if Pingcheng is sent out in the future
, the agriculture and animal husbandry here have also suffered heavy losses and will be difficult to recover in a short time.
Not to mention, Yuan Xi didn't think that King Liang would hand over Pingcheng. Or even if it was given to the Wang family, it would be under his actual control and just a pretense.
The Lueyang Yuan family has been fighting with the Hu people all the year round. Yuan Xi has no good impression of these people and has no sympathy for them at all. He agrees with the decision of King Liang very much - in the future, some of the army will be moved from the Central Plains to station and Pingcheng will be transformed into Han territory.
.
Liu Kai had stayed in Liangchang for two or three days and was preparing to go back. Before leaving, he looked towards the vast north and asked: "General Yuan, will the Helan family go south?"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi thought for a moment and said: "If you go south or not, you have to be on guard against him. Depending on what the king wants, you will deal with this guy sooner or later. You don't need to think too much, just follow the orders."
"That's right." Liu Kai bowed his hands and said goodbye.
Going south with him, there were also a few light cavalry from Bingzhou. They drove more than 30,000 horses and surged southward.
The final destination of these horses is Bianliang.
In this year's war, the owners of Wubao and the wealthy families in Henan contributed a lot of grain and labor. They heard that King Liang planned to make a deal with them to sell a large number of horses in exchange for the manpower and grain needed for the war.
Of course, this seems to be just one of the purposes.
****
On the tenth day of July, it rained continuously.
Unknowingly, it had been three days since the siege, and it was Zhai Shu's turn to go into battle again.
As soon as it gets light, dinner starts in the camp.
The herdsmen of Ding Ling devoured corn rice, but as they ate, some of them started to cry.
The Xianbei people no longer know how to defend the city. When they stand at the top of the city, they still have a huge advantage. The casualties of the attackers cannot be small.
On the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, the five thousand people were divided into three batches and took turns to kill them. In the end, only more than three thousand were left.
To make matters worse, some people could not bear to be driven and rebelled in anger. They were directly killed by the Silver Spear Army and the government soldiers who supervised the battle, and hundreds of people died.
We have to go into battle again today, and there is a pessimistic atmosphere in the camp. Everyone feels that they may not be able to come back this time.
"This is the last time." Outside the camp, Zhai Shu faced the leaders of each clan and advised: "The King of Liang personally promised that after this attack, the merits will be considered as a crime, and the incident will be treated as if it never happened."
The clan leaders were dejected, and some couldn't help but said: "We finished the charge the day before yesterday, and replaced the Xianbei of Pubu. Yesterday morning, it was the Wuhuan people who charged, and in the afternoon, it was the powerful people from Xingbei counties. The Silver Spear Army attacked once at night.
, retreated to no avail, and today it is our turn to join the battle. I heard that many prisoners were captured in the north, and the two or three thousand of us are not enough to attack once. After we fight, most of the prisoners will go up. I see, King Liang did it on purpose -
—”
"Shut up!" Zhai Shu scolded, his face uncertain.
In fact, why didn't he think so in his heart?
They are different from the Jin people and have always been regarded as aliens. Does the King of Liang really trust them? Not necessarily.
That wife of the Wang family is also stupid. In order to seize Pingcheng, she did not hesitate to sacrifice the Wuhuan people and Xianbei people who were surrendered. When they are all gone, they will know the face of the Shao thief.
Tuoba Xianbei was tortured like this by Shao Thief. Alas, I'm afraid he won't be able to get up.
Last year, the battle between Guangning and Daijun resulted in heavy casualties on both sides.
Helan Aitou and Qi's mother and son fought successively, and the number of casualties was not a small number.
Up until now, the fighting was still consuming human lives. Zhai Shu didn't know how many people would be killed or injured after the fighting was over.
In addition, most of the food in the fields is gone.
Hiding in Tibet, the herdsmen did not even prepare the fodder for their livestock for the winter. How were they going to survive this winter? They slaughtered the livestock?
What about next spring? Without enough livestock, life will become more difficult and we will be even more controlled by Shao thieves.
It’s over!
The drum sound of "dong dong" sounded, this was the second pass.
Zhai Shu sighed helplessly and returned to the camp.
After beating the three-tone drum, they were about to go into battle and fight for the slim chance of survival. But the people who drove them to charge didn't care about their lives at all.
To put it bluntly, he might be deliberately consuming it, but he didn't dare to resist.
Every time I think of this, I can't help but get excited and want to rebel immediately.
"Dong dong dong..." After a long time, the third tom sounded.
More than 2,000 people looked like their parents were dead. Before going into battle, they all looked at Zhai Shu.
Zhai Shu's face turned green and red for a while, and finally turned away, not daring to look at everyone.
There seemed to be a huge sigh in the wind.
The Ding Ling people were bathed in the morning light and weakly went into battle.
Chapter completed!