Chapter 268: Exit
Liu Cong’s camp is located outside Guangmo Gate in the north of the city.
Forty thousand cavalry, plus various miscellaneous names obtained from surrendering and rebelling along the way, the scale of the camp is very large.
The larger one can garrison thousands or even thousands of troops, while the smaller one may only have a thousand troops.
There are gaps between the camps. Be careful to prevent the collapse of one camp from affecting other camps, or when the fire spreads and burns all the camps.
Of course, the terrain of the Luoyang Basin is quite spacious and has such conditions for building camps. If it is a place with complex terrain, it will be difficult to handle. More than 80 years ago, a man was burned to death by a fire.
Tens of thousands of Han army barracks were lined up from the north of the city to the west of the city, and even part of the east of the city, winding for more than ten miles, layer upon layer, which was spectacular.
The standard tactic of surrounding three towers and one, leaving only the Luoshui side in the south of the city, the sinister intentions are evident.
But it’s a little strange to think about it. There are nearly 60,000 infantry and cavalry inside and outside Luoyang City, which is comparable to Liu Cong’s force. This kind of siege always feels outrageous.
"Shao Xun is in Yiyang? Where is Yuan Yan?" Outside the camp in the north of the city, Liu Cong did not forget to care about his two "old friends" during his tour of the camp.
"It should also be in Yiyang." Hu Yanhao, the general of Zhenglu, replied.
Liu Cong nodded and said nothing.
Longxiang General Liu Yao followed closely.
This man is Liu Yuan's nephew, but his father died when he was young. He was raised by Liu Yuan and is considered half a son.
He looks strong and mighty, half a head taller than Liu Cong. He is capable of writing and martial arts. He is good at cursive script and official script. He is known as a good archer. He can draw a strong bow that ordinary people cannot draw. He once penetrated an iron plate more than an inch thick with an arrow.
He prefers reading. He reads everything and has a wide range of interests. His favorite is military books.
When he was twenty years old, he traveled to Luoyang, escaped after committing a crime, and lived in seclusion in Bingzhou for many years.
After Liu Yuan's uprising, he joined in and made many military exploits. Now he was King Shi'an and General Long Xiang.
Hearing that Liu Cong was still thinking about Shao and Yuan, he couldn't help but admonished: "Grand Governor, the emperor only wants to seize Luoyang."
Liu Cong was a little unhappy after hearing this. Just as he was about to scold him, he suddenly remembered his reflections from the past few days, so he swallowed back the words he was about to blurt out and said: "What Yongming said is true. You should not abandon public service for personal gain. Do you have a strategy for attacking Luoyang?"
Liu Yao glanced at him, unsure whether he should tell the truth or not.
“But it’s okay to talk.” Liu Cong looked as open-minded as if I would listen to whatever you said.
Liu Yao pondered for a while and said: "Actually, the current strategy of the governor is good. Spreading the troops and plundering to meet military needs can also disappoint and alienate the Jin Kingdom. Even if they fail to win this time, next year It will be much easier if we come back."
The cavalry cannot attack the city.
Forty thousand cavalry rushed to the gates of Luoyang City, and the Jin army made up its mind to retreat and defend. They had no place to use their skills, but they could not just sit and eat without moving.
So, Liu Cong sent half of them out, with two to three thousand riders per group, supplemented by the infantry of Zhao Gu and others, and plundered everywhere.
The Wubao barriers they encountered along the way were knocked down if they could be knocked down. If they couldn't be knocked down, they were frightened. If they couldn't even be frightened, they didn't waste time and went directly to the next house.
In other words, food is the biggest problem.
The Han Dynasty was not rich. He had prepared for this expedition for a long time, but the food was never enough. What should he do?
It is unrealistic to expect grain and grass to be transported from the rear.
We got a lot of them in Hanoi, but they couldn't stop people from eating horse chews. After crossing the river and going south, we plundered another batch, and it was still tight - there were so many people and horses, and they piled up a mountain of grain and hay, and they were all eaten up in a few days.
Yesterday at the military meeting, someone seriously put forward the opinion that in the absence of infantry, Luoyang could not be captured easily, and it was better to divide the troops and plunder them. Liu Cong accepted it.
But they also proposed that the Luoyang defenders were huge in number, and even if all the Han infantry were present, they might not be able to capture the city. It would be better to withdraw after the plundering was completed. Liu Cong did not adopt this point.
He knew very well that the people below were not very interested in whether they could win Luoyang.
Everyone knows that the city of Luoyang is filled with wealth and beauties, but there is nothing we can do if we cannot conquer it. It is better to grab some money, food, livestock and goods from the county town and Wubao, let everyone get some benefits, and then go home and forget it - this is the mentality of the people below.
But Liu Cong couldn't accept this kind of thing.
He values honor, status, fame - and perhaps beauty - but ordinary wealth really doesn't interest him much.
He only wants Luoyang.
"When will Da Sikong's infantry arrive?" Liu Cong stopped and asked softly.
Thousands of horsemen came back outside the camp gate.
At the head were hundreds of cavalry, followed by horse-drawn carriages and ox-carts as far as the eye could see, and behind them were more than two thousand cavalry.
The car was loaded with food, money, silk, gold and silverware, leather and other various goods, and there were even hundreds of women sitting on it.
Obviously, this is a wealthy woman who returned from a robbery.
Seeing that they were getting closer and closer to the Xiongnu camp, the women were so frightened that they began to cry.
The Huns cavalry laughed when they saw it.
Liu Cong pretended not to see it.
The emperor often emphasized treating the people well, but it was really powerless.
The soldiers who went on the expedition want money, can they not give it to them?
If a man wants to snatch a woman back and enjoy her, can he not give her to her?
I work hard and think about only two things: money and women.
This is the eternal pursuit of soldiers. If you don't satisfy this, will you fight in vain?
Even the emperor cannot violate these two clauses, unless you give everyone money and food on weekdays so that everyone has money and food to support their families and have money to marry a wife, otherwise don't talk nonsense!
"If there are a lot of women in the army, it is easy to cause trouble, so transport them back as soon as possible. Whoever robs them will get it. Let the commanders, commanders, and leaders of each department remember them, and then distribute them after they are transported back to Pingyang." After the group of people passed by, Liu Cong ordered.
“The transshipment started yesterday.” Anyang Wang Liuli was in charge of this matter. He immediately stepped forward to report: “Another batch was transported today. Just in time, after unloading the grain, these goods were transported to the grain truck. , The woman is transported away." Liu Cong nodded, still feeling some lingering anxiety in his heart.
How to fight this battle?
The soldiers were having fun looting, but the city of Luoyang remained unmoved. What should we do?
"You guys should go back to your respective camps." Liu Cong sighed and said, "If we try to attack Luoyang tomorrow, we will choose Ximingmen. If that doesn't work, bring Wang Mi over. His soldiers will be better than those of Zhao." Be strong."
"Yes," General Zhenglu Hu Yanhao responded.
He was stationed outside Ximing Gate. When the King of Chu said this, he obviously wanted him to lead his troops to attack.
It just so happened that he also wanted to try the skills of Jin's imperial army.
******
Here in the Luoshui River Valley, the boring mountain battle can no longer go on.
After the 4,200 Zhongwu Army fought, there are still about 3,000 people left.
Wang Mi’s side was not much better, with slightly more casualties. Especially after the Silver Spear Army suddenly entered the battle on the 25th, they lost nearly a thousand people directly, abandoned two camps one after another, and retreated more than five miles to cut down trees and set up fences.
Shao Xun ordered Yunzhong and Tanshan Erwu to allocate 500 soldiers each, and Jinmenwu to send 1,000 soldiers, totaling 2,000 soldiers, to be led by Zheng Long, the master of Jinmenwu, as the back-up of the Zhongwu Army.
Then he withdrew and headed eastward with a total of nearly 10,000 people, including the Silver Spear Army, the Valiant Cavalry Army and the auxiliary troops. He arrived at Yiyang County two days later and met up with Li Chong.
As for returning to Xizan, let’s leave it to the young men’s militia.
Chen Jin, Du Yin, and Yuan Xi joined forces, followed by Zheng Long, with a total of 5,000 infantry, mainly defensive, and it was a great achievement to keep this road without loss.
His current focus is mainly on the east.
"Hun cavalry appeared the day before yesterday and yesterday, but they only wandered around the mouth of the valley and did not go deep." Li Chongqing reported at the top of Yiyang City: "Hundreds of cavalry approached Yiyang early this morning, and the general led by The Yamen army went out of the city to form a formation, and the thieves retreated after watching for a while. "
"What tricks do you think the Huns are playing?" Shao Xun asked.
It is already late October, and the Luoyang River Valley is full of withered and malnourished weeds and gray and monotonous fields.
Houses, fort walls, woods, hills, and rivers are dotted here, making this land a little more lively.
What is gratifying is that winter wheat has been widely sown in Zhuwubao this year, and the food for next year is considered guaranteed - if it is not eaten up by locusts.
“Captain, I feel that I can’t wait and see like this anymore.” Li Chong couldn’t help but say.
"What do you think?" Shao Xun asked.
He knows that the current battlefield situation is quite stressful.
The reason why people are frustrated is that the information is not transparent.
The overwhelming presence of the Huns' cavalry greatly restricted the scope of activities of the Jin army's scouts, and also made it very difficult for messengers to deliver messages back and forth. If you were not careful, the message was not delivered, but was intercepted by the enemy. Revealed one's own internal information.
Luoyang is now a huge information black hole.
Since the arrival of the main force of the Huns, Shao Xun has not been able to understand the specific situation in Luoyang.
It is true that the Huns did not station troops in the south of the city, but you must not think that messengers, scouts, and rangers can freely enter and exit from the south.
In fact, in the vast area from the south of Luoyang City to the three passes of Luonan, the activities of Xiongnu rangers are very rampant, and the probability of scouts and messengers being killed is extremely high.
On the few occasions when I delivered a message, I set out at night, sending out several groups of people at the same time, taking huge risks to deliver the message. There was no guarantee that all the messengers would be able to come back.
When the number of cavalry on one side is ten or even twenty times that of the other side, the battlefield becomes one-way and transparent.
Shao Xun sometimes even had to rely on torture of prisoners to get news about Luoyang, which was not necessarily accurate.
What can be determined at present is: 1. The main force of the Xiongnu is surrounding three palaces, but the number of infantry is small and they cannot fight. They will not be able to take Luoyang for a while; 2. They have insufficient food and grass and are dividing their troops to plunder. However, it can only alleviate the dilemma of food shortage, but cannot fully meet military needs. After all, more cavalry also means high consumption; third, they will launch an siege in the near future.
"The last general asked the governor to give an order to go out and set up camp to observe the thieves' situation." Li Chong pleaded.
Shao Xun thought silently for a moment.
With so many Huns cavalry, even if they raided everywhere, they would still consume a lot of food and grass, so they would not last long.
Perhaps, before long, they will have no choice but to retreat just like Wang Mi did back then.
Leaving Yiyang and approaching Luoyang is really of little significance from a military perspective.
But from a political perspective, it is very significant.
Is it necessary to seize this political benefit?
Shao Xun thought for a long time. Just when Li Chong wanted to speak again, he stretched out his hand to stop.
"You stay here and help me watch your way back to Xiban. Don't let anyone get in the way." Shao Xun said, "I will personally lead the army out."
"Where do you want the governor to go?" Li Zhong asked subconsciously.
“Nine tunes.” Shao Xun said.
"Shui Jing·Luo Shui Zhu" says: "The east path of Luoshui River leads to Jiuqu to the south. It is ten miles away and has nine slopes."
In the 10th year of Wei Dynasty (544), Hou Jing built Jiuqu City here.
It is roughly located five miles northwest of today's Yiyang County and fifty miles away from Yiyang City in the Wei and Jin Dynasties (the old city of Han Yiyang).
Shou'an County was established here in the Sui Dynasty, which was followed by the Tang Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, Changshui, Fuchang and Shouan counties were established in the Luoshui River Valley. However, the Wei and Jin Dynasties were not developed enough, and there was only one county of Yiyang.
"Let's set off today, carrying a month's worth of food, grass and equipment." After Shao Xun made the decision, he felt much more relaxed and said to Li Chong seriously: "I'll leave the rest of my life to you."
(End of this chapter)