Chapter 274 Stunned
The farmland has been covered with a thin layer of snow.
Anyone familiar with farming knows that if there is a few more snows, there will definitely be a good harvest next year.
Within the low earthen wall, the vegetable garden is neatly planned.
The hemp rope on the well's windlass has been frozen solid, and a straw shed has been built over the well, which is already covered with snow.
Dozens of thatched huts are surrounded by earthen walls.
Although the house is simple, it has a sense of life.
There are several handmade small objects hanging under the eaves, which should be for children to play with. When the wind blows, they flutter, which is really cute.
There are several vegetable baskets at the door, and in the baskets are freshly picked salted vegetables.
The salted oyster is golden in color and pickled just right. You can tell at a glance that the hostess is very virtuous and takes care of housework.
The house was spotless.
Although the household items are simple, they are neatly arranged. Most of them are newly made, except for a jewelry box that looks a little old, which may have commemorative significance.
"Bang!" The cold wind blew, and the bedroom door was suddenly blown open and hit the earth wall hard.
A dark red blood trail extended from the threshold to the inside.
Following the blood trail, what you see is a baby corpse.
The baby should have been thrown to death. His eyes were closed, his fists were clenched, and a stream of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
Further inside, a woman was leaning against the earth wall, naked, her lower body was in a mess, and she had been dead for a long time.
After carefully searching other houses, the bodies of old people can be seen everywhere, followed by children, women at the least, and not a single adult.
The soldiers quickly exited the fort wall.
There are several "fresh" corpses outside the gate of the fort wall. Judging from their clothing and hair accessories, they should be Huns.
On the post road outside the fortress wall, the torrent of steel rolled eastward without stopping for a moment.
A group of knights walked on both sides of the torrent, with horn bows hanging from their waists, spears in their hands, and ferocious human heads hanging under the saddles.
The knight in golden armor came from behind, and everyone paid attention to him.
In the Battle of Jianshui, more than 4,700 Xiongnu infantry and cavalry were killed before and after, completely defeating their proud cavalry superiority.
Facts have proved that when the logistics are sufficient, the soldiers are capable and brave, and they are fighting on the inside and there are multiple resting points along the way, the cavalry has no advantage.
When the Jin army forcibly crossed Jianshui, they even lost the battlefield initiative to fight when they wanted and leave when they didn't want to. They were forced to use short attacks to attack the elite infantry who were tightly fortified, resulting in a disastrous defeat. .
If Song Zhou, who fought in the Battle of Mengjin, had carried more than a month's worth of food and grass and set up a stronghold at the ferry, he would not necessarily have been annihilated with the strength of the 5,000-strong Right Guard Forbidden Army.
But he made the wrong choice. This shows how important it is to follow the right person - now everyone understands this.
The snow is getting heavier.
It was so hot and cold that it was biting.
The long queue of vehicles is less than a day away from Luoyang, and they will be able to reach the city by tomorrow morning at the latest.
What would the Huns do?
Continue to stop them at all costs, or simply retreat home?
The decision lies with Liu Cong.
Theoretically, he still holds the overall initiative.
If we leave now, with the more than 30,000 light cavalry still alive, in the open Luoyang Basin, we can use their numerical advantage to wear away or even encircle and annihilate the Jin cavalry bit by bit.
The Jin infantry who could fight could not increase their speed under the harassment of light cavalry and could not catch up with the retreating Liu Han infantry.
He can escape unscathed, it just depends on whether he wants to just leave.
******
Let's go back in time a few days.
Just when Shao Xun led his troops to leave Ganshuikou and go to Jianshui, a big event happened at Dayang Ferry in Hedong.
Da Sikong Hu Yanyi, who was urged to do nothing by Liu Cong, without raising enough food and grass, bit the bullet and set out from Pingyang with 50,000 to 60,000 infantry troops. On the night of the first day of November, Arrived in Dayang.
It was freezing cold, and the infantry troops from the Xiongnu, Han, Di, Qiang, Jie, Xianbei and other miscellaneous groups were short of supplies. Not only were they shivering from the cold, but their food rations were also reduced. Save more food and send it to the front line for consumption by the cavalry.
This suddenly ignited their anger.
The infantry is inferior to the cavalry?
In the Jin State, cavalry was assigned to infantry to fight. Should we do the opposite here, with infantry assigned to cavalry to fight?
Hu Yanyi is a descendant of the Liu Han family, how respected is he? Of course he knew the dissatisfaction of the soldiers, but it was difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice and could not produce food. What could he do? Although tonight he still has plenty of food, plenty of food, wine, and beautiful women, and his life is full of joy.
However, as the commotion outside became more and more intense, he, who was quite drunk, had to leave the embrace of the beauty and go out for a inspection.
After meeting several tribal commanders who openly contradicted him, he became furious and ordered them to be killed.
At this moment, an arrow was shot from the darkness, hitting Hu Yanyi's throat, and came out through the neck...
The consequences of this arrow were very serious. Tens of thousands of troops lost their restraint and retreated from Dayang one after another. They returned to their tribes and forts. It was impossible to recruit them to Luoyang in a short time.
The news that Hu Yanyi was killed by his subordinates was rushed to Luoyang after five hundred miles, and was presented to Liu Cong's desk in the middle of the night on the fourth day of the lunar month.
After dawn, Liu Cong, who looked gloomy, summoned the generals for discussion and announced the bad news on the spot.
There was a moment of silence in the tent.
Since the departure of the army, two generals, Hu Yanyi and Hu Yanhao, have been lost, and each battalion has lost no more than 15,000 soldiers and horses.
Although most of them were either men under General Zhao Gu of Anbei or miscellaneous men from various walks of life, the number of Xiongnu troops who died in the battle also reached an astonishing three thousand.
Furthermore, the loss of too many miscellaneous soldiers is not without negative effects.
At least, the morale of the whole army is a bit low now, and it is really not suitable to fight anymore.
But who is going to say this?
Everyone, look at me and I look at you. Finally, General Longxiang Liu Yao came out and spoke: "Grand Governor, withdraw your troops."
Liu Cong was speechless, but his expression was obviously unhappy.
Liu Yao ignored him and said to himself: "Although we have made various arrangements today, the army's food and grass have never exceeded seven days' needs. Oh, the recent field battles have been unsuccessful, and the siege has been unfavorable, and many people have died. , the food and grass are slightly abundant, which may last for more than ten days."
What Liu Yao said is a hell of a joke.
Everyone looked at him and then at Liu Cong.
Liu Cong still had no expression.
Liu Yao seemed completely unaware of the meaning of what he said. He just heard him continue: "The Jin army has counterattacked on all fronts on the periphery. If they do not withdraw at this time, all the results will be wasted."
Achievements?
In Liu Cong's understanding, the results may be limited to those goods and women brought back by the grain transport team.
Perhaps there is also a blow to Jin's prestige.
But this kind of thing is invisible and intangible. If you say it exists and others don’t recognize it, then it means it doesn’t exist. How can it be regarded as real credit?
"Grand Governor, withdraw. No infantry will come, and Luoyang City cannot be captured." Liu Yao looked at Liu Cong and said sincerely: "I am willing to lead my headquarters to cut off the rear. After the army returns to Pingyang, we may refer to it for details. If you come back next year, you may not have a chance." When Liu Cong heard this, he was a little moved. Yongming was really thinking about national affairs.
Yesterday's attack on the city ended in failure again.
He personally supervised the battle and could see clearly that Zhao Gu had really worked hard and had no secrets. However, due to his lack of strength, the Jin army was not just a piece of paper and had a large number, so it could only be defeated in the end. .
Perhaps, as Yongming said, it is really impossible to win Luoyang this year.
After all, Jin still has some luck, and it has to let it dissipate for a while before attacking again before it can be possible to capture.
Thinking of this, Liu Cong sighed and said: "Let the emperor decide this matter. All camps - retreat to the north of the city first."
Liu Yao frowned slightly and retreated.
When King Chu said this, he still had a little thought in his heart.
According to his true intentions, he probably didn’t want to withdraw his troops so hastily. The situation was helpless, and there was nothing he could do. In the end, he could only leave it to the emperor to make the decision for him.
Fortunately, the emperor is much stronger than the king of Chu.
He should have known about Dayang earlier than the King of Chu. Maybe the angel had already traveled day and night to Luoyang.
Retreating is a matter of seconds.
******
Situ Peng Lezhao hurriedly entered De Xie Mansion.
The air is filled with the smell of powder. If you smell it carefully, you may still smell the aroma of wine and meat.
In the deep winding path, there are endless sounds of silk and bamboo, men's teasing, and women's coquettishness.
After turning around a screen wall, the sound suddenly became louder.
Le Zhao entered the hall without stopping.
What greeted him was the warmth like spring, which instantly dispelled the chill in his body and made him feel so comfortable that he wanted to moan.
As far as the eye can see, the woman's white and tender skin contrasts with the man's dark chest hair.
There is a smell of powdered medicine in the air.
White flesh worms squirmed in the arms of the drunken man.
Some people laughed, some kept drinking, some recited poems and composed poems, some cursed, and there were all kinds of scholars.
The servant carefully crossed the piles of rotten meat, walked quietly to Xie Kun, and whispered a few words.
Xie Kun was still awake. He looked up at Le Zhao and said with a smile: "Hongmao is here, can you have a drink?"
Le Zhao forced a smile and bowed. After a salute, he said: "Join the army, Situ invites you."
"Oh? What's the matter?" Xie Kun glanced at the hall. Many of Situ's staff were wandering around here.
"The Huns in the west and east of the city are retreating. Situ has arrived at Ximing Tower and invited Liu and Pan, the two chief historians, to join the army. The generals from all the camps went to the tower to observe the rebels." Le Zhao replied.
Actually, Le Zhao looked down on Xie Kun.
This man was born in the Xie family of Yangxia, Chen County. He was famous for his Confucianism. He was also good at talking about "Laozi" and "Book of Changes". He was good at singing and playing the piano, but he did not cultivate dignity and disdain to manage common affairs.
He entered the government in the first year of Guangxi (306). He was willful and indulgent, not bound by etiquette and law, and was later removed.
After returning home and relaxing, I saw a beautiful girl from the neighbor's family named Gao. I went to flirt with her again. The girl threw a shuttle and broke her two teeth.
Others made fun of him about this, but Xie Kun said proudly: "It won't affect my singing!"
Because of Xie Kun's fame, when Situ came out to control Yanzhou, he was appointed as one of the soldiers. , Ask for military advice from time to time.
"Okay, this is business. Wait a moment." After listening to Le Zhao's words, Xie Kun nodded, got up and went to the inner room, washed his face first, changed his clothes, and then He left with Le Zhao.
When the two arrived at Ximing Tower, they saw only a dark group of people.
But the strange thing is that so many people gathered here but it was very quiet. Everyone looked serious and looked outside the city.
Xie Kun and Le Zhao squeezed to the front, looked down, and were stunned.
In the wilderness to the west, drums were beating, and a convoy of about ten thousand people was slowly moving forward.
Wherever the convoy went, it was like breaking waves, pushing the Hun cavalry that covered the entire wilderness fiercely outward.
After the convoy passed by, the waves of cavalry gradually closed again.
After a while, the convoy stopped, end to end.
Suddenly, a large group of soldiers crossed the vehicle formation and advanced to the left and right sides.
The dark armor, silver guns, neat steps, and chilling demeanor all tell people that this is an elite division.
The soldiers held their guns firmly and marched step by step in the heavy snow, blowing white steam.
They took a step forward, and the Huns cavalry took a step back.
It wasn't until they had advanced thirty steps that everyone stopped, wearing helmets and armor, and standing in awe with their weapons in the heavy snow.
The car formation began to adjust.
After a while, an oval car formation was adjusted.
The cavalry became active and attacked the Huns' light cavalry in the distance.
The government soldiers also mounted their horses one after another. After charging forward, the Huns' light cavalry gave way.
The infantry began to draw teams, half forward and half backward.
After half of the people were withdrawn, the other half also withdrew under the cover of strong crossbows and infantry bows.
The cavalry and government soldiers who had disturbed the Huns' light cavalry also withdrew back. Many of them still had arrows stuck in their bodies, but they looked relaxed and high-spirited, laughing and entering the car formation.
The car array suddenly closed up, intact as before.
The Huns seemed to be angry because they had been tricked. Thousands of horsemen surrounded them from all directions, riding around and shooting.
But in the wind and snow, the arrows are not accurate, and they cannot shoot far. On the contrary, the crossbow can be used for a while, and every time it is fired, it can always take away a few unlucky Huns.
The Huns soon realized that this was too much of a disadvantage and retreated far away. Not long after, everyone seemed to have received an order, and everyone headed north and disappeared over the horizon.
The battlefield returned to calm.
Shao Xun climbed onto a temporary high platform and looked at the top of the city.
The Yue government generals on the top of the city were stunned.
The Forbidden Army soldiers on top of the city were stunned.
The two old wall lamps, Wang and Pei, were stunned.
Luoyang was stunned.
Is this——made all the way through?
(End of this chapter)