Chapter 915 Bear Hunting
At the foot of King Yao's mountain, the sound of killing shook the sky.
Thousands of Taishan troops covered the fields under the hillside like huge blankets. Countless bright yellows surrounded Yaowang Mountain like golden scales, erupting with endless waves.
In the position on the mountainside of King Yao, Xiahou Dun, covered in blood, shouted and ordered his troops to return to the front position again.
Even though Xiahou Dun had just killed the fleeing Cao generals on the spot, he still could not make these courageous Cao soldiers go back.
Xiahou Dun stopped talking. Instead, he summoned a group of flag-carrying soldiers wearing iron armor from behind and jumped down the hillside. They used swords and halberds to force the defeated soldiers back.
It was already the afternoon when the fighting broke out, but in less than two hours, Xiahou Dun had already lost all his peripheral positions.
The Taishan Army was so capable, and their appearance was so unexpected.
Who would have thought that when the mist in the mountains receded in the morning, the Taishan Army would appear directly at the foot of King Yao Mountain, as if soldiers descended from heaven.
The forest positions on the mountain roads on both sides were the first to be lost. These people were defeated by the Taishan Army who rushed and attacked without even exerting their due fighting power.
Although Cao Jun set the battlefield in the hilly area of Qi State to facilitate ambush warfare, he did not realize that these winding hills and dense forests were the home ground of these Taishan troops.
Pingzhou warriors from tribes in the Xianbei Mountains and Changbai Mountains found the feeling of hunting in their hometown here, and gave full play to their fighting power here.
Cao's troops in those forests were crushed in a matter of seconds and continued to retreat towards the main peak of Yaowang Mountain.
It was also along the path of pursuit that the warriors of the Taishan Army rushed up to Yaowang Mountain along with these defeated troops without resting.
Now, Cao's army at the foot of King Yao Mountain was also defeated and hurriedly ran along the ridgeline to the middle peak.
Xiahou Dun, who had been arranging the defense line here, was anxious and angry. He killed several favorite generals in succession before stabilizing the chaos and driving them back with the war supervisors in hand.
But before Xiahou Dun could take a breath, Cao's army, which had just been restrained, suddenly became confused again. Then he saw a Taishan army wearing iron armor and rushed forward.
They held up their swords and slaughtered the crowd of Cao's soldiers, shouting in different languages, and their howls tore through the sky.
It was at this time that Xiahou Dun finally understood why the troops at the foot of the mountain retreated so quickly.
Just by looking at it, Xiahou Dun could see that the armor of these soldiers weighed at least forty kilograms. However, these people were still able to jump and rush through the mountains, forests and ravines despite wearing such heavy armor. What kind of physical strength was this?
Wearing forty pounds of armor and running around, they were already elite soldiers like the ancient Wei warriors, but now these people can jump and swing in the ravines. They are simply more elite than the Wei warriors.
At this moment, Xiahou Dun was filled with confusion, wondering why the Taishan Army always had so many elite soldiers.
It is true that good ministers and strong generals are rare, but if you look carefully, you can still find a lot of them. As long as the person in charge can accommodate and employ people, there will naturally be no worries about talents rushing to them.
But it is not simple to have elite soldiers in the army. It is not only the excellence of the entire system, but also a sufficient source of elite soldiers.
Contrary to what laymen understand, the achievement of an elite soldier is not achieved in the military camp or on the battlefield, but before entering the camp.
Only by consciously participating in the training and use of military skills during the growth process, and then not lacking in staple food of meat, can one develop the foundation of an elite soldier.
It is for this reason that in the past dynasties of the Central Plains, only a small portion of the population could become the source of elite soldiers for the empire.
Farmers can become soldiers, but if you want to become an elite soldier, you need to grow up in blood and fire, and in the waves and sand. This is why the Central Plains dynasty clearly has a larger population than all the grassland and northeastern forces combined, but is often militarily weaker than the other party.
To put it simply, there were few technologies in ancient wars that could transform population advantage into military advantage. Only in the era of thermal weapons did the advancement of military technology completely bridge the gap between people.
Cao's army is indeed not weak in combat effectiveness. He has absorbed a large number of Qingzhou Yellow Turbans, local rangers, samurai from Poluan Manor, thieves from Langya Peaks, and powerful tribes.
Most of these people relied on martial arts and had experienced them in long-term military wars, so Cao Cao was able to sweep through the peaceful Xuzhou.
But whether it is strong or not depends on who to compare with. The Taishan Army's previous combat effectiveness was actually on par with Cao's Army now.
Maybe the morale of the military will be stronger due to the construction of the military structure and the allocation of land, but it can't be much stronger.
What really opened up a huge military gap between the Taishan Army and the Central Plains princes was when the Taishan Army conquered the Ping, Liao, and Dai regions.
Especially Pingzhou and Liaozhou are the top priorities.
Among the geographical boundaries of these three regions, Ping and Liao are both fishing and hunting areas, while Daibei Grassland is a nomadic area. The tribal population in fishing and hunting areas are even more brave than nomads.
Because the warriors of the fishing and hunting tribes, if they want to have enough to eat today, they must go hunting in the mountains with their bows and arrows, and every hunt is a training and test of military skills.
Therefore, although the population in the fishing and hunting areas is smaller, due to their abundant meat and keen alertness, they can be said to be first-class elite soldiers.
It was precisely because the Taishan Army absorbed all the warriors trained in the Ping and Liao regions that it became as invincible as it is today.
How can the current Xiahou Dun understand the above thoughts and plans?
So it’s not just the battlefield that determines victory or defeat?
Seeing the Taishan troops wreaking havoc in front, Xiahou Dun roared and rushed down with his Huanshou sword. After cutting down an unsuspecting Taishan army with one blow, the tooth soldiers behind him also rushed over with a roar.
The miscellaneous soldiers of Cao's army on both sides continued to retreat, leaving the middle to their own Ya soldiers and those Taishan troops.
The crowd sprayed blood mist, roars, and the smell of feces and urine filled the narrow mountainside, like hell.
After just hacking to death the third Taishan Army, the blade of Xiahou Dun's hundred-refined ring-headed sword was shattered. After blocking an iron bone on the slope, the entire sword shattered.
After struggling to throw the sword handle at the Taishan soldier, Xiahou Dun took out the saber from his waist, then used his breastplate to bear the cost of the sword and jumped out of the battle circle.
At this moment, Xiahou Dun cursed in his heart, how could the armor of these Taishan soldiers be so strong, capable of fighting, and so well-dressed? How could they win this battle?
Then he looked around the whole place again, which made his heart sink even more.
Most of the people lying on the ground were his tooth soldiers. The number of people wearing crimson uniforms fighting on the mountainside battlefield was visibly reduced to the naked eye.
In fact, this result is not surprising.
You must know that Xiahou Dun had a hundred-refined sword in his hand, and such a precious sword was shattered under repeated blows, not to mention that the tooth soldiers were armed with regular swords.
In fact, most of these tooth soldiers who died in battle were killed in battle because their armor was not as good as their own.
However, I don’t know why. It may be that this Taishan army did not coordinate with friendly forces before attacking. Anyway, the result is that when they have been fighting on the mountainside position for a long time, they still have no follow-up troops to follow. In other words, this Taishan army is out of touch with the main force behind it.
On the contrary, Xiahou Dun deployed a large number of troops in the mountainside position. The whole army had a total of 14,000 men. He placed 8,000 men in King Yao's mountainside position alone.
Then there are a large number of broken troops that are reorganizing at a later position. It can be said that Xiahou Dun has ample troops in his hands.
As a result, the advantage of these rushing Taishan troops only lasted a short time.
Soon, a large number of Cao's troops began to circle to the rear of Taishan's army from both sides, and then flanked there with Cao's troops in front.
No matter how brave a person is, there are no eyes behind him.
So when Cao's army appeared behind them, these Taishan troops divided their forces and turned around to fight against Cao's army behind them.
There are not many people in the first place, but if we have to divide our forces like this, the outcome will actually be decided.
……
Xiahou Dun changed his sword and went in again.
Xiahou Dun was a warrior at heart. What he loved was the decision between life and death on the edge of a knife, the kind of trembling on the verge of death.
So even though the situation was decided, Xiahou Dun still fought in.
And this time, because he knew that the Taishan Army's armor was strong, he deliberately replaced it with a heavy axe.
This weapon has both the armor-breaking power of a heavy soldier and the edge of a sharp weapon. It can be said that in addition to wielding it, it is a sharp weapon against armored soldiers.
But the ten-pound ax was swung like a windmill in Xiahou Dun's hand, and with one blow of the ax, the Taishan Army on the opposite side was even chopped into pieces.
Then he set his sights on a Taishan Army warrior. The man was tall and majestic. He used an iron rod to smash heads one after another with a roar. At this time, both ends of the iron rod were dyed white.
Xiahou Dun had seen this man a long time ago, but before he felt that the weapon in his hand would be at a disadvantage if he encountered it, so he deliberately avoided it. Now he had the giant ax in his hand, and he had the courage to come over.
He strode forward, holding a big ax in his right hand. When he saw that General Taishan didn't see him, he shouted:
"Hi, this way."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiahou Dun jumped up in three steps, holding an ax in both hands in the air and struck at the opponent.
I don’t know whether I should say whether Xiahou Dun was aboveboard or not. It’s hard to say.
But did General Taishan really not notice Xiahou Dun?
This man is a bastard from the Xianbei Mountains. He can't even tell which ethnic group he belongs to. In the past, he only led a group of people of the same origin to wander in the mountains and forests.
Later, because the Taishan Army conquered this mountain forest and used a stable and fixed life to attract people in the mountain forest, this man led his brothers to join the Taishan Army.
Don't think that the barbarians in the mountains just love hunting. In fact, they don't know how much they envy the stability of the Han people inside the wall.
Although safari in the mountains and forests sounds interesting, in fact every step may cost you your life, either from insects, snakes or from the mouths of animals. You may even just fall and break your legs in the wilds, and you may die in the mountains and forests.
Not to mention, every winter there is heavy snow, and the mountains and forests are completely silent. Those who cannot hunt enough food to survive the winter will not survive.
Therefore, if you make a living by hunting, there are thousands of ways to die, and the only way to live is to settle down.
Therefore, when the settlement of Taishan Army appears in a certain place, the nearby fishermen and hunters will rush in. It is really the suffering of Ping and Liao, who knows.
Of course, the Taishan Army knew that the reason why the Pingliao warriors had extraordinary combat prowess was because of their fishing and hunting life, so once they began to settle down, their combat prowess would inevitably decline, and even become worse from generation to generation.
But this is also the result that Taishan Army wants.
Everything has its pros and cons. After the Taishan Army used a large number of warriors from the Pingliao area, it was inevitable that a large number of Hu elites would fill the army.
This is the inevitable result of two sides of the same coin.
The Taishan Army also used various rigid rules for promotion to block these barbarian warriors, such as language barriers and writing barriers. But in fact, the top brass in the army knew very well that this method could not cure the root cause.
After all, these barbarians are all formed, and not many of them can really learn language and writing after they reach adulthood. Therefore, there are only a few barbarians who can rise to the rank of captain or above.
But you solved the problem by not letting people get promoted? Those Pingliao warriors who have made great contributions and shed blood will be willing to accept it when they see that their former Han colleagues have become prosperous?
If only one or two are stuck, forget it. When the number of people stuck increases, even if your card standard seems fair, it will be regarded as institutional discrimination by you Han people.
This will inevitably lead to alienation from morality and even lead to catastrophe.
These future problems could not be foreseen by the senior officials of the Taishan Army. Could it be that Zhang Chong also could not foresee them? Therefore, Zhang Chong was the biggest supporter of promoting settled life in Pingliao area.
Zhang Chong knew very well that the difference between Hu and Han was by no means a matter of national blood. Needless to say, this concept was not inherited by later generations, and it is still thought like this even in contemporary times.
In the concept of the Han people, these outsiders were actually "the descendants of the Yellow Emperor and the descendants of Qingyang". He was called a Hu just because he lived in foreign lands.
Therefore, if you enter China, you will be Chinese, and if you enter Yidi, you will be Yidi.
The most direct way to fundamentally solve the Hu-Han problem is to make this problem no longer a problem. If the Hu people have settled down, learned Chinese culture and the Chinese language, and become the same as the Han people in every aspect, then wouldn’t they also be Han people? ?
Therefore, only by letting the Hu people settle down can it be Chineseized. Only by allowing the Hu people to settle down can the disparity in force between the two sides not become wider and wider.
By then, even if there are one or two so-called heroes in these areas who want to cause trouble, they will use Pingliao soldiers who have settled down for a long time. If they want to pacify the pass, it will not be too difficult.
Therefore, this is Zhang Chong's idea of ruling the country. He has always seen the big from the small, and he has always looked far.
But these methods will only be used in the future. In fact, now, for the first generation of Pingliao warriors in the army, for these heroes who have been fighting wild beasts since childhood, whether it is compared with their previous fathers or ancestors, or compared with future generations, Compared with their descendants, they are all the pinnacle beings.
The one Xiahou Dun attacked was the first warrior of the Taishan Army, the one who could truly hunt bears and tigers.
What he called showing weakness at this moment was exactly what he did to the beast. When Xiahou Dun jumped and struck, the bear hunter suddenly threw the iron rod over.
This blow hit Xiahou Dun's giant ax hard!