The Nanlou and Xiutu tribes totaled 45,000 young horsemen, 25,000 cattle, and 110,000 sheep, and they were gathered together.
The military camps were used to drive livestock to various pastures. During this snowstorm, many cattle and sheep froze to death in the government-run pastures in Youzhou, which just made up for the losses. Especially the 25,000 cattle, if you wear nose rings and train them carefully, you can learn how to do it.
Pulling plows to cultivate the land makes up for the farmers' shortage of animal power.
Taishi Ci and Xu Rong were left to control the 17,000 infantry and continue to build momentum in the north to prevent the Xianbei people from sneaking into Youzhou.
They are also responsible for assisting the Xiutu tribe in relocating the people, and guarding the Hu Qi family records of the Nanlou tribe, and ensuring the loyalty of the two cavalrymen.
Liu Xiang led the Chinese army's 4,400 cavalrymen and two young and strong cavalrymen, 45,000 men, turned around and marched eastward, galloping towards Lulongsai along the cement road that had been cleared of snow.
In the past ten days, he has ordered people to prepare supplies along the way and collected sleds to load supplies to Lulong.
Fifty thousand cavalry marched eastward from Juyong, marched 640 miles in seven days and nights, repaired in Lulongsai for three days, pulled more than 8,000 sleds, and set foot on the Lulong Ancient Road on the 21st of the first lunar month. They wanted to follow this
Take the road to Pinggang, reach the upper reaches of Wuhou Qinshui River, and then go along the river to Horqin Grassland.
Horqin or Huoershen is a Xianbei language word that means good at shooting. The Han people directly transliterated it and called the people living here Horqin people or Huoershen people. The grassland here was naturally called Horqin grassland. The grassland is located in the west
In the triangle area between the west bank of the Lamulun River and the Laoha River, during the Han Dynasty, the Xilamulun River was called Lerao River and the Laoha River was called Wuhou Qinshui.
Before the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, this was the territory of the legendary Nuba tribe, which was called "Ghost Fang" in the historical records of the Shang and Zhou dynasties. At that time, the land was divided into five directions, namely the human side in the middle, the water side in the south, the earth side in the west, and the east side
Yi Fang, the north is Gui Fang.
It took 50,000 cavalry 12 days to travel a distance of 450 miles.
On the second day of February, the weather got warmer, the ice and snow melted, and the ground became muddy. The army finally arrived at the flat Horqin grassland. This year, the temperature returned much later than in previous years. I wonder if spring plowing can be completed in March.
Liu Xiang retracted his worries about farming and turned around and ordered: "Cui Yi, order people to move the remaining supplies to the pack horses. The sleds will be left here temporarily. After the war, we will find a way to move them back to Youzhou."
This time the troops were sent out, carrying 40,000 shi of wheat cakes, 3,000 shi of dried meat, 500 shi of salted fish, 20,000 shi of fine grains, and 120,000 bundles of fodder.
The army had 50,000 cavalry, more than 21,000 war horses, and more than 43,000 pack horses. After twelve days of marching, there was not much supplies left, and they would be exhausted in about three or four days.
But don’t panic, there is grassland under your feet, and a lot of snow has melted away. Don’t worry about horse feed. Not far away is the town of Mijia tribe in East Xianbei, just in time for the enemy. The Xianbei army is more than 500 miles away.
Liaodong, here is the paradise of getting everything you want.
"Nanlou, send your people out. Make a team of two thousand people. Search the Xianbei settlement. If you encounter a small group, kill them on the spot. If you encounter a large group, come back and report. I only want supplies and no prisoners. Tell the person who leads the group.
, the Chinese army will continue to advance eastward along the river bank and stop at the intersection of Wuhou Qin River and Lerao River."
The purpose of sending troops this time was to completely eliminate the Mika and Suli tribes in Eastern Xianbei.
"Follow orders."
Nanlou received the order and was about to go down to reorganize the army when Liu Xiang warned again: "If there are any Han slaves who have been captured, give them some food and let them return to Youzhou in groups."
"Our troops will definitely obey the general's orders."
Nanlou's 38,000 cavalrymen were divided into nineteen teams and accelerated their search to the east and north.
This order is too big, and the troops are too scattered. But who wants to leave the young people of the Xianbei people at home? There are only about 100,000 people in total, and more than 20,000 young people have gone south. There is not much fighting power left. If they give them a chance, then
Don't blame Liu Xiang for being rude.
The Horqin Grassland has a flat terrain and a wide view. If it is the season when vegetation grows, the green grass will be dotted with cattle and sheep, which must be a very beautiful scenery. Unfortunately, it is the early spring when the ice and snow melt, the grass has not yet sprouted, and the ground is white and yellow, like
It looks like slices of bread with white hair on it, and it really has nothing to do with the beautiful scenery.
In addition, the extremely vicious barbarian cavalry came and went, trampling patches of black mud, which looked more like moldy and spoiled bread.
Most of the winter pastures of the Mika Tribe were at the Wuhou Qinshui River in the south. The Chinese army marched along the river and saw many settlements with corpses. Every day, teams brought back cattle and sheep. The Lerao River in the north was probably the summer and autumn period.
After two seasons of grazing, the team sent there had little to gain.
Looking at the corpses lying on the ice of the river, Liu Xiang ordered the troops from Nanlou to salvage the corpses in the river and use hooks and ropes to pull them ashore. The troops were marching down the river, and he didn't want to drink and soak the corpses.
People from the Nanlou and Xiutu tribes are not in the habit of drinking boiled water, unlike the soldiers of the Anping Army, so they are more likely to get sick.
On the seventh day of February, for five days, more than 10,000 Chinese troops marched 200 miles and arrived at the intersection of the two rivers. This is the upper reaches of the Daliao River and the boundary between the Mika tribe and the Suli tribe.
More than 400 miles to the east, we reached the border of Fuyu. On both sides of the river were the pastures of the Suli tribe, but the boundary was so narrow that they did not recognize both tribes and were often beaten to death.
It is easier to find the place where the Suli tribe lives. You can look for it along the Daliao River. He sent 20,000 people from the Nanlou tribe to continue eastward to sweep. Liu Xiang led more than 10,000 troops to camp on the spot, waiting for the return of the main army from East Xianbei.
"Zian, how many battle results have you reported from the Nanlou Department?"
Cui Yi looked at the figures compiled by Gong Cao and curled his lips: "These barbarians are reporting randomly. They killed more than 90,000 Xianbei people in five days. Did the Xianbei people grow out of the ground? Let them kill them.
If not, it would be good if we can find 10,000 people."
Liu Xiang smiled and said nonchalantly: "Let them retaliate. There is no need to describe merits anyway. With the financial support, I am not afraid that the people from the Nanlou Department will not contribute. I just want to clean up the Xianbei people in this grassland and get rid of them."
With the pressure from the north in Liaodong, our army can march eastward with peace of mind."
Cui Yi smiled proudly: "Hey, Cui's idea is probably great. He said that he would defeat the Xianbei people first, and then march eastward with his army and sweep across the Hu Yi. How about it, my lord, you haven't read the military books in vain in the past few years.
?”
"Yes, yes, you understand!" Liu Xiang couldn't laugh or cry. As long as you understand all the words, no one will think you are bragging.
Yan Gang could not help but snicker beside him. Everyone in the Anping Army knew that it was easy for Cui Yi to use swords, guns and sticks in all directions, but it was difficult to let him know a word.
Cui Yi grabbed Yan Gang, put his head under his arm, and threatened: "Young man from the Yan family, I don't know a few words, but I still read military books. Do you think he is good or not?"
"Awesome, awesome, General Cui is so powerful." Yan Gang was forced by the situation and quickly gave in. He was not angry. He was from a humble background. When he first defected to his lord, he didn't know how to lead troops in war. Cui Yi taught him a lot. , I have long been used to making trouble.
"Hahahaha." Cui Yi let go of Yan Gang and looked up to the sky with a triumphant laugh.
"You look like you've never seen the world before. You really don't have the eyes to see it. Don't say you know me from now on. I can't afford to embarrass that person." Liu Xiang shook his head and complained.
Cui Yi shook his head and showed off: "Cui is also a person who can give advice to the lord. I will have a drink to celebrate later. I heard a word recently, which is called uneducated. It refers to people like Cui. The lord cannot always He urged me to learn how to read. Someone is good at it without learning."
Liu Xiang seemed to see a 1.9-meter-tall, muscular primary school student complaining to his parents: "What's the use of studying? Even those who study well can't beat me, so don't push me to study."
He joked: "Zian, if you are so confident, I will make you a military advisor and make you a military advisor. I will let you live the life of a military advisor!"
Cui Yi smacked his lips, shook his head and said, "Forget it about the military advisor. I'm afraid it will make people laugh. It's not like the military advisor of the Anping Army is illiterate."
"It's okay. The chief history officer of the Anping Army is also illiterate, so he just made a couple." Liu Xiang continued to tease.
Cui Yi retreated in defeat and complained in a low voice: "My lord, it's too difficult to read."
Liu Xiang smiled and said: "Take your time, you always have to be literate. I hope that all the soldiers in the army can be literate, and the people under my rule can also be literate."
"My lord has lofty ambitions, but all wise kings and saints are not as good as my lord." Yan Gang took the opportunity to flatter him.
The lord hasn't taken him on an expedition for a long time. He feels that he has to work hard and show his presence more.
"Stop flattering. The Yueqi battalion is traveling in the south to guard against Xianbei raids. You must not be careless."
"I will obey the order, my lord, please rest assured." Yan Gang accepted the order with his hands in hand.
"The war is about to begin, all ministries should be on alert." Liu Xiang told the generals.