When October just passed, it started to snow on the grassland. The army of 159,000 Sirens and the 100,000 slave army of Duke Lviv were divided into three groups starting from the territory of Duke Lviv.
Fifty-nine thousand Hu cavalry in each position, together with Duke Lvov's slave army, attacked Zuowuguan, Beidingguan and Youweiguan from the three mountain passes, forcing the 60,000 Dingbei army who wanted to divide their troops to go south for rescue to have to fight against them.
On the simple pass.
Seeing the enemy troops as far as the eye could see, the defenders of the three passes unanimously issued military orders to fight to the death.
But this time the Jiuhu people were not confused strategically. The 60,000 Anbei Army guarding the three passes fought desperately on the three unfinished passes with the 250,000 enemy troops. At the same time, they sent cavalry to deliver the news to Dingbeicheng.
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Zhao Zaixiao personally led his troops to the harassed grassland highlands, looking for the Nine Hu cavalry while escorting the people back south.
Nearly half a million people evacuated the northern highlands of the grassland within ten days.
At the same time, more than 9,000 Jiuhu cavalry were attracted to attack. Forty miles north of Dingbei City, Zhao Zaixiao led his personal guards to fight fiercely with a large group of Jiuhu people. After a day and night of fighting, they finally defeated this invading Jiuhu cavalry.
The cavalry was completely wiped out.
In the middle, the people were attacked and killed by a small group of Jiuhu cavalry on their way back south. No less than 30,000 people were killed.
If it weren't for the fact that some old soldiers among the common people stepped forward and led the young men in the village to defeat the small group of rangers with hunting bows and old swords, this loss would have been even greater.
The 40,000 Dingbei Army who devoured a large group of Jiuhu cavalry suffered considerable losses themselves. The 40,000 Dingbei Army suffered more than 10,000 casualties, of which more than 6,000 would never see the dawn of the next day.
When the news of the victory reached Chang'an City, the atmosphere in the court where they thought it was just an intruder and was discussing whether Tiance's army should go north was relieved.
But bad news came in the afternoon. The Zuowu, Beiding, and Youwei passes were breached in three days. The 60,000 Dingbei army suffered more than 30,000 losses in the battle. Seeing that the remaining Dingbei army could not defend it, they withdrew from the pass.
Setting up ambushes on both sides of the valley, the purpose at this time is no longer to kill the enemy, but to delay the enemy's rush out of the valley as much as possible.
The withdrawing Dingbei Army took advantage of the mountain terrain and formed a temporary regiment of 200 people, each guarding the top of the mountain next to the mountain road. After the Dingbei Army on one hilltop after exhausting their arrows, they fought with the enemy who came up.
The army approached the enemy at close range, and it was visible to the naked eye from the nearby hills that many of their comrades died of exhaustion in the fighting.
One hilltop after another was captured by Ross slave soldiers wearing half-armor.
Duke Lvov promised that after the war, slave soldiers who had made military exploits would be given civilian status, and those who died in war would be given civilian status to their relatives.
Therefore, when these slave armies fought, they were not afraid of death.
Facing such an enemy, the Dingbei Army in the valley chose not to retreat. Before the battle on the top of the mountain was finished, the slave army launched an attack on the next mountain. The Jiuhu people took advantage of this time to clear the mountain road.
Crossbars and stones ensure that carriages transporting grain can pass through.
Jiuhu lost a large number of cattle and sheep last year, so these Jiuhu, like Dagan Rus, established a logistics team to transport grain.
The Jiuhu Sirius Army and the Ross Slave Army need to rush out of the valley in a hurry and drive the Dagan people out of the grassland. It is best to capture a large number of Dagan people as a bargaining chip to force Dagan not to go north.
The Dingbei Army at the top of the mountain needs to buy more time to at least allow the large number of people on the grassland highlands to withdraw to the south of Dingbei City.
Both sides have the desire to fight to the death, regardless of life and death.
A group of 200 people on a mountaintop often only needs two hours to stop shouting for death under the attack of thousands of slave troops.
This delaying operation, which coexisted with despair and hope, lasted for seven days.
Give the second prince Zhao Zaixiao time to evacuate the people south.
But when the Tiance Army set off, there were only more than 30,000 Anbei Army left in Wuding Hebei who had just finished the bloody battle.
Chang'an's arsenal was opened to replenish weapons and equipment. The military newspaper said that the Jiuhu people had iron armor, and at the same time there were also Rus people who were not equipped with enough combat power.
Therefore, the Ministry of War transferred 160,000 pairs of iron bone flowers from the arsenal as a supplement to the ordnance. Although some of these iron bone flowers were rusty, it did not hinder their lethality.
Su Ce was also assigned a pair of iron bone flowers. When he saw the inscription on the handle, it was the fourth year of Kangxing. Su Ce thought about it and realized that this was almost a century-old antique. Kangxing was the year before the founding of Daqian, which meant that these iron bones were Guduo took longer than Daqian to establish the country.
The four cavalry armies, the leopard guard on the left and the eagle guard on the left and right, were the first to set off. A minister from the six tribes was sent to accompany the army. Suddenly, the army passed by. These six ministers had to clear a northward path for the army's baggage.
In the morning, when the Leopard Tao Guards and Ying Yang Guards left, they took away three days of dry rations for the entire army and set off for more than a thousand miles. They galloped for five days and spent one day in the original Anbei City for repairs. Then they had to go north from the ferry to the grassland. .
When Su Ce set off with the prince in the morning, the second prince Zhao Zaixiao, who had been fighting with the army for more than ten days, watched the 20,000 Dingbei troops march north.
At this moment, he no longer looks like the noble young master he used to be, and his face is full of chapped holes due to the cold wind. The people in the grassland highlands account for 30% of the people in the Dingbei Governor's Mansion, and they have moved to the grasslands in the south these days.
Dingbei City was newly built, and now it has become the northernmost inhabited city in Daqian. As for the new villages on the grassland highlands, they have been abandoned.
After the 20,000 Dingbei Army replenished their ordnance from Dingbei City, they headed north. Many people walked north while looking back at the newly built Dingbei City in the south. They knew that if they went there, they would never return.
The fear of death hung over the heads of the 20,000 Dingbei troops, but no one left the team, because they were their relatives in the south. The longer they stood in the way, the more hope they had.
Three passes, 60,000 Dingbei troops, only 30 people survived. They were sent back to deliver the news of the enemy's large-scale march south.
The remaining 60,000 Dingbei soldiers were buried in the valley.
The 300 personal guards who had accompanied Zhao Zaixiao had lost more than 100 in the fighting, and most of the survivors were wounded. Now more than 12,000 wounded soldiers were added to Dingbeicheng, waiting for the arrival of reinforcements.
Colonel Zhao Zai watched the retreating Dingbei Army disappear into the evening glow.
His body went limp and he fainted. Zhao Zaixiao, who had not had much rest for four or five days in a row, was exhausted.
At the same time, Prince Zhao Zaicheng asked Su Ce to help him find a long rope and tie himself to the saddle.
"Tie it tight, I don't want to fall off the horse!"
Su Ce nodded and checked again. After making sure it was OK, he handed Zhao Zaicheng a piece of yellow silk.
"Prince, cover your face, don't forget to get dust into your mouth and nose."
Zhao Zai took over, took off his robe, tied it with yellow silk, put on his robe, and put down his visor.
Su Ce got on his horse, took out a piece of black cloth from his arms, covered his mouth and nose, tied it up, put down his black visor, and waved to the surrounding Brigade Ben Army. Three thousand Brigade Ben Army followed him just as they set off for tea time. Behind the Leopard Tao Guard, the Ying Yang Guard on the left and right will be behind the Three Thousand Brigade Ben.
More than 83,000 people were divided into four large groups and one small group, two miles apart, heading north along the official road.
When the army is moving forward and only wants speed, no one wants to be a burden. Although the Tiger Guards set out in the afternoon and the Flying Bear Guards followed closely behind, as soldiers, no one wanted to fall behind.
The Tiger and Bear Guards on the left and right, and the Flying Bear Guards on the left and right, focus on infantry combat and need to carry a lot of things, so they set off later.
At the same time, the prince Zhao Zaicheng did not have time to swear an oath due to tight time, so the three thousand brigade of Ben troops also set off together with the left and right Leopard Tao Guards and the left and right Ying Yang Guards.
The military situation is urgent, and the army has no time to delay. The prince is the commander-in-chief. Gongxiang Cheng of Anding County is the deputy commander. This battle has no strategic purpose. The army only wants to go north! North! North!