Chapter 144 Two-pronged advance
The army cannot move so quickly.
Because Sima Yue wanted to gather more soldiers and horses, he would wait for the soldiers recruited from Chenliu, Xingyang, Henan and other counties to gather before he would march in large numbers.
Some people from Jinguyuan even rushed to Xin'an, saying that officials came to recruit people, but they pushed them back, and Nuonuo, a junior official, did not dare to say anything.
This is an important reason why farmers invest in manors and docks.
When recruiting troops, soldiers from various counties gave priority to recruiting peasants, because they were easy to manipulate and took no trouble.
When there are not enough farmers, we look for powerful people with no family status or official positions.
If it is still not enough, then look for scholars with Han Su and Xiao surnames.
Difficulty ranges from low to high.
No one is a fool, it is instinct to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. If the war continues, there will be fewer and fewer homesteaders and more and more Wubao. Even some manors will try to transform into Wubao - many of the manors are resort properties, such as Jingu Garden, Pan Yuan, etc. , relatively easy to break.
Also coming to Xin'an were the management staff of various forts and manors.
Shao Xun listened emphatically to the farming matters of Jinguyuan, Panyuan and Shaoyuan. After learning that the wheat seedlings were growing well, he was relieved.
When the wheat is harvested in June, it will all be taken to Jinguyuan for processing.
Luoyang has become stable in the past two years, and a small number of escapees from Jinguyuan have come back one after another. The water buckets in more than 30 districts can handle too much grain. Now he can barely open a few. If he continues, Shao Xun feels that he can take over business and help others pound rice and grind flour.
Among the four major docks, Jinmen dock is the top priority and must be completed this year.
After the beginning of spring, Yanggongwu, Yiquanwu and Heshuiwu delivered part of the "final payment" of grain, which totaled sixty or seventy thousand dendrobium.
Wang Queer, the owner of the building, reported that a man named Yang Ming sent a batch of money and silk to Jingu Garden.
After roughly appraising the prices of the many brocade silks, gold and silverware that I received at the end of last year, I purchased grain, livestock, farm tools and daily necessities in Luoyang and sent them to various Wubao.
Once you get the money, you will basically spend it all, and you will still be in debt.
Shao Xun is not panic at all. What a joke, how can a big boss not be in debt?
In mid-May, the first batch of young men recruited from Sizhou and Yanzhou arrived in Xin'an, and auxiliary troops were finally available. It happened to be at this time that the order to march came down.
On May 18th, the army marched westward.
Their route was mainly composed of the left guard of the Chinese army. Except for a few left-behind personnel, 15,000 people were dispatched.
The Xiaoqi Army dispatched 1,500 cavalry, and the old foundation was finally shown.
Since the reorganization of the Chinese Army in April and May last year, the Qiaoqi Army has been expanding with difficulty. The main method is to recruit stragglers and a small number of new soldiers. Now they have slowly accumulated to 1,890 riders.
The famous Youzhou Tuqidu was also rebuilt.
As the most armored cavalry in the Chinese army that does not belong to any army, there used to be more than a thousand cavalry. Now some veterans have been gathered together and more than a hundred recruits have been recruited. More than 400 cavalry were gathered together, and this time they followed, accompanying the infantry.
Shao Xun is more concerned about this army.
Because this is a unit that can greatly threaten the Silver Spear Army. Although it only has more than 400 cavalry, it can be really deadly when charging. The insufficiently trained Silver Spear Army may not be able to withstand it.
Fifteen thousand infantry, two thousand light and heavy cavalry, plus more than 20,000 strong men, totaling almost 40,000 people, but it is known to the outside world as a hundred thousand army.
It took the "hundred-thousand-thousand-strong army" a full seven or eight days to cross the more than 100 miles of mountain roads, which was very slow.
This northern route is commonly known as "Xin'an Road", and together with the "Yiyang Road" in the Luoshui Valley in the south, it is the key road from Tongguan to Luoyang.
Shao Xun and the others set out from the ancient cities of Qin and Zhao, more than ten miles west of Xin'an County - in history, Qin and Zhao had an alliance here, each occupying a city, hence the name, also known as "Juli City" ”, because the alliance is beneficial to both parties.
Cross the river valley and enter the Xiaoshan mountain trail.
At that time, the narrow place could only accommodate square rails, and countless people, carriages and horses lined up to pass through, which was extremely inefficient.
After walking through the slopes of the East and West Erxiao Mountains, we entered the boundary of Hongnong County and Shaanxi County. The road was only slightly easier, but it was still difficult to wander in the mountainous area.
In the past, Cao Mengde was afraid of the dangers of the southern route, so he opened the northern route. But the North Road also has its steep spots and is really difficult to walk.
Luoyang’s strategic location is evident. However, every time foreign troops invaded Luoyang, no one volunteered to stand guard at these dangerous locations, and no one stood guard at the outer checkpoints. In the end, the enemy troops were always allowed to swagger through various dangerous locations and enter the city of Luoyang.
At the end of May, the army arrived in Hongnong, and Shao Xun met Mi Huang, who had been away for more than a year.
******
At the end of May, on the Yiyang Road, horses hoofed in formation, flags were flying, and an endless army was meandering westward in the valley.
After a while, several scouts and more than ten horses rushed to a simple ferry.
There were three boatmen, an old man, a young man and a young man, sitting under a tree and resting near the ferry. When he saw the messenger, he immediately took action.
Two teenagers went to untie the ferry boat tied to the tree, and the old man stepped forward to greet them.
“I want to cross the river, quickly!” the first scout shouted.
The old man didn't talk nonsense. He took three steps at a time and arrived at the riverside pier, ready to punt.
He is from Taiyuan and was originally a boatman on the Fen River. After arriving at Yunzhongwu, I got a good job and took a ferry on the Luoshui River to facilitate people coming and going.
But I won’t be able to do this job for long. He subconsciously looked to the west not far away. A pontoon bridge had spanned the north and south banks, and it gradually became the main way for the people of Yunzhongwu to go to the north bank of Luoshui. As the number of residents in the fort increased, Wubao was no longer satisfied with the Farming on the south bank of Luoyang and on the east and west sides of Qugushui has begun to expand to the north bank. Many fields sown this spring are on the north bank.
The scout quickly got on the ferry, and several others led the horses and galloped towards the pontoon on the west side.
After a while, a dull bell rang in Yunzhongwu.
The people who were busy in the fields immediately packed up their things and retreated to the south bank.
Some people even wanted to run back home, pick up their belongings, and then leave. However, they were quickly beaten and scolded by the village leader, and they followed the large army in dejection and left.
A few village heads organized more than a hundred strong people, armed with spears and bows, to occupy a high ground, intending to hold them back for a while - if there was an enemy attack. .
People who have experienced troubled times have long lost their innocence, and they all understand the cruelty of this world.
In order to facilitate farming, some people now build shacks in the fields and live in them during busy farming periods. If you live in Wubao, it is okay if the fields are nearby, but it is more difficult if the fields are farther away. Trouble, I don’t know how much more walking I have to do every day.
There must be property in the shack, such as quilts, cooking utensils, etc. For these fort residents, it is actually a very important property, and it is normal to want to take it away.
But the military situation is urgent and there is no room for carelessness. Maybe he will be hunted and killed just because he took the things and did not have time to escape.
Sure enough, when the last group of people withdrew to the south bank and the people behind them retreated to the pontoon bridge, the figures of the cavalry group had already appeared in the distance.
Zhuangtou picked up the axe, cut off the bamboo ties connecting the floating boats, and released several boats to the south bank. At this point, one-third of the pontoon bridge has been broken. If the enemy wants to cross the river through the pontoon bridge, it is no longer possible - in an emergency, they can even set the pontoon bridge on fire.
The cavalry was getting closer.
The surging horses passed through the post road, stepped through the farmland, and headed west.
Zhuangtou looked at his heart and his heart was bleeding.
Wait another three months, and the millet on the north bank will be harvested. They will be trampled by the cavalry, but I don’t know how many grains of rice can be harvested.
"Xianbei people!" Because Jin San led the expedition, the fourth building of the Silver Spear Army originally stationed in Jinguyuan arrived at Yunzhongwu for garrison. The owner of the building, Wang Queer, climbed up a tree and looked out The other side.
The endless people and horses marched westward along the river valley.
Someone is concentrating on their way.
Some people stopped, pointing at Wubao with a riding crop, and burst into laughter from time to time.
If you think about it with your toes, you will know that these people must be commenting on the embarrassing retreat at Wubao.
Yes, they have many people and horses. They can fight when they want and leave when they want. They are free and comfortable. Even if you want to take revenge, you are not even qualified to follow them and eat ashes.
The Xianbei people, who burned, killed, and looted in Yuzhou, now paid no attention to the clumsy and weak Central Plains people.
Once upon a time, they also looked up at the great country of the Central Plains.
During the Later Han Dynasty, Xianbei invaded the border many times. The imperial court organized a mixed force of armored cavalry and sword-and-shield infantry, recruited light cavalry from tribes along the border, and conquered the grasslands several times, establishing a supreme reputation.
Even after a hundred years of melee at the end of the Han Dynasty, and after the founding of the Jin Dynasty, the Xianbei people could only look up to the Central Plains and put away their various petty thoughts.
However, as the kings have been fighting in the past ten years or so, Xianbei, Xiongnu, and Wuhuan have been drawn southward, gradually allowing these prairie men to see clearly the inside story of the Central Plains.
Especially when they mounted their horses, picked up their bows and knives, and defeated the Central Plains armies again and again, they had nothing to look up to.
Some people may not be able to turn around, and are still used to being respectful to the Central Plains - although this does not prevent them from burning, killing and looting in the mainland.
Some people are really arrogant and think that the Central Plains is just mediocre and will sooner or later become a pasture for them to run wild.
But sadly, things may really be developing in the direction they imagined.
Some people would rather continue to enjoy life and sleep after crossing south, "looking up at the vastness of the universe and observing the prosperity of categories", "wandering with eyes and hearts" and "extreme audio-visual entertainment", than stay in The north, like a man, protects his wife and children, drives away enemies, and rebuilds his homeland.
After the Xianbei people stayed for a while, they rode away.
Wang Queer led the soldiers of the fourth building to set up defenses along the river to prevent small groups of horsemen from crossing the river to burn, kill and loot.
We persisted until evening before retreating to Wubao.
It was at this time that the right guard troops of the Luoyang Central Army appeared.
There were also about 15,000 infantry, plus more than 20,000 peasant soldiers and masters, driving large and small carts, looking like a hasty march all night.
Zhang Fang is dead and the situation is excellent.
The army has already gathered, so it is time to speed up the march and attack the key points quickly. If Sima Yong is given time, he may be able to stabilize the turbulent military morale, and then it will be difficult to fight.
Therefore, the right-guard general Pei Kuo decided to march overnight and not give the Western thieves a chance to breathe.
Sima You, the king of Runan, also joined the army and saw this rather large Wubao at a glance.
He called several imperial guards generals and asked if they could recruit men and grain in the fort. Unexpectedly, everyone hesitated and discouraged him.
Sima You knew in his heart that this Wubao had some background, so he secretly made a note of it.
(End of this chapter)