On the last day of the sixth year of Zhongping, Liu Bei camped with his soldiers in the wilderness of Youzhou, drank wine, ate barbecue, and ordered the captured Xianbei to dance for them to cheer them up as a banquet to welcome the new year.
The soldiers sang and danced, twisting their bodies around the campfire, doing devilish dances, tearing their throats and singing songs that were completely out of tune, or fighting each other hand to hand for military fun.
Liu Bei organized an arm-wrestling contest as a show to add to the entertainment, and also took out the jade pendant he carried as a lottery, saying that whoever could beat everyone else in arm-wrestling would get the jade pendant.
So the generals and soldiers in the army became excited, and each one started to fight against each other with all their strength. Liu Bei refused to participate for the sake of fairness. The soldiers bared their teeth and cracked their mouths in a frantic competition to test their own strength.
In the final decisive game, Zhao Yun faced off against Zhang He.
The two of them were wrestling with each other, their faces turned red, their veins were bulging, and big beads of sweat were flowing down drop by drop. It felt like they were about to explode.
In the end, Zhang He was defeated, but Zhao Yun had the last laugh and won the jade pendant that Liu Bei carried with him.
By this day, they had completely wiped out the Xianbei people, Zhuhu and Han robbers in Guangyang County, Yuyang County and Youbeiping County, and the large-scale armed forces in the three counties had almost disappeared.
Already.
On the same day, in Luoyang, after serious discussions and many arguments among the ministers, a consensus was finally reached to change the next year's reign name to Jian'an.
The Jian'an era name came six years earlier than originally, but it finally came. It is said that this era name was strongly recommended by Cai Yong, the Taizhong doctor, and Cai Yong formed this idea after talking with Yin Caocao of Henan Province.
All I can say is that history is really interesting.
Liu Bei, who was far away in Youzhou, did not learn the news immediately, but he knew that he would not be able to take a holiday this New Year.
On the first day of the new year, Liu Bei led his army to advance rapidly, met up with Lu Bu in Wuzhong County, and then continued to move forward. The two armies of Zhang Fei and Pang De also continued to move forward.
They did not have stable logistics support for this battle, so they all adopted the mode of fighting to support war. They captured prisoners and sent them back, and then used the food they looted and the cattle, sheep and horses they carried with them as army rations, and used the nomadic army's
March way march.
For this reason, the advance speed of these three armies is quite fast.
They quickly reached the border between Youbeiping County and Liaoxi County. Here, the three troops encountered a small number of Wuhuan cavalry at the same time. Liu Bei also received the news from Pang De and realized that the Wuhuan people had begun to move their hands here.
The sides are stretched.
The Xianbei people who went south have been defeated, but the Wuhuan people have not yet. The Wuhuan people still have a sufficient main force. Based on limited intelligence, Liu Bei inferred that the number of combat cavalry dispatched by the Wuhuan people must be about 40,000 to 50,000.
, the number of its tribesmen will not be less than 200,000.
This is also a challenge for the Han army, which currently has a total strength of 38,000.
But so what?
One Han can serve as the five barbarians. The combat strength of the Han army of 38,000 is equal to nearly 200,000. If 200,000 defeats 40,000 or 50,000, who has the advantage?
This is an issue that does not need to be discussed.
On the fifth day of the first lunar month of the new year, Liu Bei led his army to Lingzhi County in Liaoxi County, which was the hometown of Gongsun Zan.
Here, Liu Bei encountered a group of Wuhuan cavalry. This Wuhuan cavalry was led by Wuhuan lord Qiu Liju and Cong Zidun. After discovering that Liu Bei's troops were approaching Lingzhi County, he took the initiative to challenge them.
Liu Bei threw his main force into the battle without any hesitation, and there was no doubt about the result. Tadun was defeated by Liu Bei, himself was beheaded by Liu Bei's young general Zhang He, Lingzhi County was recovered by Liu Bei, and four captured officials and civilians were rescued.
More than ten thousand people.
After defeating Tadun, Liu Bei discovered that the fighting ability of the Wuhuan people was just that. It was no better than the Xianbei people, and even weaker than the Xianbei people. They looked capable of fighting with the strength of the people, but in fact there was nothing worthy of praise.
place.
No matter how you play the classic cavalry and archery tactics, in the face of the advanced equipment of the Han army under Liu Bei's command, it is just throwing tofu against a stone.
After Lingzhi County was recaptured, Liu Bei continued eastward across two large rivers and directed his troops towards Feiru County. It was at Feiru County that Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, and Pang De met their forces.
Then in Feiru County, Liu Bei temporarily reorganized his army to allow the army to rest while counting the results and losses.
According to a series of report statistics, since the war to regain the lost land in Youzhou was launched, Liu Bei and his men killed and captured more than 180,000 Xianbei cavalry and herdsmen, and captured more than 800,000 cattle, sheep, horses and other grassland livestock, and rescued captives.
More than 200,000 people were captured.
After a series of wars and non-combat attrition, there were still more than 33,000 people left when Liu Bei sent out troops.
In a few days, more than 5,000 people died in battle, died in accidents, or were injured and left the army. Naturally, most of them were injured and had a high possibility of being rescued. However, the number of people who died in battle did not account for the majority.
.
Liu Bei was very pleased with this.
Generally speaking, due to their successive victories, the Han army under Liu Bei has a strong will to fight and a strong willingness to continue fighting, so everyone is willing to follow Liu Bei to continue to attack westward and establish more achievements.
Lü Bu and Zhang Fei, who were almost going crazy with their desire for credit, were vying to be the vanguard. They seemed to have nothing to do with each other, but they just disliked each other, and they didn't know why. If Zhang Fei wanted to fight for it, Lü Bu would definitely not let it go.
However, if Lu Bu wants to fight for it, Zhang Fei is not willing to let it go.
Finally, Liu Bei arranged a double vanguard lineup. Zhang Fei and Lu Bu each led 5,000 cavalry, and the troops set off in two groups to search for the enemy. Liu Bei led the main force behind him, and everyone brought groups of living cattle, sheep, and horses.
and the already cooked beef and mutton in a big way.
Because it is a cold season, food is easy to preserve. Even meat can be stored for a long time. When possible, we eat cooked frozen meat. When not, we kill cows and sheep and eat fresh ones.
Anyway, during the war, there were enough cattle and sheep, and Liu Bei gave special permission. Everyone's rations were all meat. Eat it with an open stomach. Don't be afraid if you run out of food. Go grab it on the grassland!
On the eleventh day of the first lunar month, Lu Bu led the vanguard and encountered a Wuhuan cavalry detachment on the way to Liucheng.
He showed off his power and led his troops to eliminate this small team, captured the tongues, and forcibly asked them where the main force was. Then he received news that a main force of the Wuhuan people, led by Nanlou, was staying in Zhiyang, Liaoxi County.
In Le County, there were not only the main force of Nanlou's tribe, but also many Han people who were captured and used as slaves.
Lu Bu was overjoyed when he heard this and realized that this was a huge military achievement.
Although he also forced him to find out that the total number of Nanlou's troops was 60,000 to 70,000, with more than 13,000 capable soldiers, and he only had 5,000 men at hand, he was not worried about this. Instead, he thought it was a
A great opportunity to show off your abilities.
He summoned Zhang Liao, Li Su, Zhang Yang and other generals to explain the situation to them.
"The Wuhuan barbarians and others have more than 10,000 combatable soldiers, but our army is only 5,000. We are trapped and short of horses. If we force them to fight, we may not be able to win. However, I want to win military merits. Please come with me to win military merits."
And wealth?"
Li Su and Zhang Yang, who had fought many victorious battles with Liu Bei before, didn't think much about it and immediately agreed to Lu Bu's suggestion. Only Zhang Liao was a little worried, feeling that there were many soldiers in Nanlou and they were waiting for work, and the Bingzhou cavalry was tired and might not be able to win. It was dangerous.
Very big.
Lu Bu sneered at this.
"Wealth and honor can be obtained through danger. How can we obtain wealth and honor without taking risks? If Wen Yuan does not want to obtain wealth and honor, he can supervise the rear army."
Faced with Lu Bu's contempt, Zhang Liao was helpless, but he could only follow his team.
On the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, Lu Bu led his troops and braved the cold wind for three days, and finally arrived near Liucheng. With a charge, he defeated the few Wuhuan people who were resting in Liucheng, which increased his confidence, so he only let his troops.
Everyone rested for one day, and on the 15th day of the first lunar month, he ordered to send out troops again.
According to the direction of the captured Wuhuan people, Lu Bu led his troops to attack overnight and advanced rapidly. At noon on the 16th day of the first lunar month, he led the Bingzhou Assault Cavalry and arrived near Yangxia County. After observing the dark Wuhuan camp, he was overjoyed.
"This is the military merit given to me by God! Brothers! Follow me to gain wealth!"
After giving the order, Lu Bu cheered up and launched a surprise attack with his Bingzhou cavalry, catching the Wuhuan people under Nanlou's command by surprise.