Chapter 328 Changes in the Situation
In the open wilderness on the north bank of Mishui River, the noise rose to the sky.
Thousands of thieves were beaten to pieces and fell back.
At first, the defeated army was only scattered into a few groups.
But as the Silver Spear Army pursued bravely, the enemy troops became more and more scattered, from a group of more than a thousand people to a group of hundreds, and then to a group of hundreds of people. At the end, groups of broken soldiers appeared, and the collapse was really severe.
No one is trying to gather the defeated troops, and now is not the time.
Wang Sang galloped on his horse surrounded by his own soldiers, followed by several empty horses.
Chang Can led the soldiers to pursue him, shouting "Don't leave Wang Sang".
Wang Sang was worried. He looked back and shot an arrow, which missed but also shocked Chang Can.
There was a rout in front.
Wang Sang turned his horse's head and rushed towards a place with relatively few people.
"Bang!" The person blocking the road was knocked away.
Wang Sang clamped the horse's belly hard and ran away.
After rushing out for more than a hundred steps, I finally got rid of the large group of defeated troops.
Wang Sang looked forward, feeling suddenly enlightened and relieved.
At this moment, dozens of riders rushed straight from the left front. The first person was tall and had amazing arm strength. He was waving a particularly thick and long horse pole and knocked down the two of them in one glance. .
"Liu Ling!" Wang Sang's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Haha, Wang Sang, come with me to see the prince." Liu Ling clapped his horse forward, gave the horse a poke, and then seized the opportunity when Wang Sang sidestepped and grabbed Wang Sang like a chicken. Holding the mulberry in his hand, he threw it across the horse's back and disappeared in a flash.
Wang Sang's soldiers shouted angrily and rode after him.
Liu Ling was too lazy to fight with them, so he went in a circle, led the pursuers to the vicinity of the Fu soldiers, and then disappeared behind the crowd.
"Bang!" When Wang Sang was thrown to the ground and smashed to pieces, Shao Xun glanced at Liu Ling in surprise and asked, "Is this Wang Sang?"
"Return to you. "Hou, this is Wang Mi's younger brother Wang Sang, Pingbei General of the Puppet Han Dynasty and Sanqi Changshi." Seeing Wang Sang trying to get up, Liu Ling stepped on his back and replied respectfully.
"You were General Pingbei before, right?"
"Exactly."
Shao Xun nodded.
Liu Han's official title is not worth anything, you can get it if you go there, each one is more bluffing than the other. The king of Ping Jin, the general who destroyed Jin, the general Andong, the general Pingbei, etc. were wholesaled as if they were free of money.
Wang Sang's abilities were limited, and he was only granted a relatively insignificant official position such as a Disciple Rider at the beginning, for the sake of his cousin Wang Mi.
If Liu Ling had not been captured and General Pingbei was freed up, Wang Sang might not have had his turn.
Wang Sang is not even a free general, but he is good enough, which makes Shao Xun look down upon him.
You are not even as good as Zhao Gu.
"Take them down and interrogate them carefully." Shao Xun said: "After the interrogation, wait for an opportunity to send them to Luoyang."
"As ordered." Several soldiers rushed up and stuffed a ball of rags first into Wang Sang's mouth, lest he speak slanderously, and then drag him away like a dead dog.
"Clean the battlefield quickly." Looking at Wang Sang's struggling figure, Shao Xun said and ordered: "The whole army will go to the ancient city of Xinzheng and rest for three days."
"Also, Chen Liangfu from Yingchuan will send another batch of grain and grass. "
After defeating Wang Sang's troops, the thieves who went south to Henan and captured them should be frightened.
In the middle of winter, their supply of food and grass is not sufficient. What we can grab now has been grabbed. If we continue to waste it, it will be difficult to grab more. If there is a stalemate, we may retreat.
This achieves the goal.
******
Liu Yao, who was in Luoyang, waited for several days to get the news.
There is no other way. Their messenger must first cross the Yellow River to the north, detour through Jijun and Hanoi, and then go south to Luoyang.
Perhaps we can also try to cross the Songshan Mountains, but there are many bandits in the mountains, and many refugees live in groups. If a few messengers pass through, it will be too dangerous, and they will disappear without warning.
When the messenger arrived outside Ximing Gate, Wang Mi and Zhao Gulian sent messengers to request retreat.
Liu Yao thought for a long time and finally agreed that they should rest in the Luoshui Valley, but did not allow them to retreat.
He understood their situation.
Attack Yunzhongwu first, but failed many times. Zhao Gu's tribe suffered more than 2,000 casualties, and Wang Mi's tribe suffered no fewer than 1,000 casualties.
At this point in the war, it’s not that we can’t go on, it’s that it’s really unnecessary.
The terrain is so dangerous that one person on the other side can replace several of yours, which is a big loss.
In general, the Luoshui River Valley only harvested more than 3,000 people and a small amount of food for most of the month. Overall, it was unable to make ends meet.
This road could actually be withdrawn, but Liu Yao did not dare to give an order. He had to report to Pingyang and listen to the emperor's opinion.
As for the news he had just received that Wang Sang's tribe had lost most of its troops and only a thousand people escaped, he didn't care much about it.
It would be bad luck for them to meet Shao Xun when they went south to rob.
What really made Liu Yao think about withdrawing his troops was the defeat report from Daibei.
In order to take revenge, Liu Kun persuaded Xianbei Tuoba Yilu to invite troops with humble words and generous gifts. Yilu Xuzhi sent his nephew Tuoba Yulu with 20,000 cavalry to help. The Xianbei were so fierce that they defeated the Xiongnu Tiefu clan and the Bai tribe Xianbei, invaded their camps, and massacred them wantonly. The two tribes could not resist, and while asking for help from Pingyang, they led their troops to flee westward, crossed the Yellow River, and reached the boundary of Shangjun. The Tiefu clan Xiongnu and Baibei Xianbei had surrendered to Liu Kun last year, but were conquered by Liu Cong and switched to Liu Han.
Liu Kun was overjoyed that Tuoba Xianbei had made such a great contribution, and he presented Yi Lu as the Great Chanyu and acting Duke of the county. Because Luoyang was blocked, the memorial could not be sent in, and no response from the court had yet been received.
But Tuoba Yilu took it seriously, and because of the long distance between the fiefdom and the tribal grassland, he led more than 10,000 people to fall into Yanmen.
Obviously, no matter how bad the land in the Central Plains is, it is still better than the grassland. The Ten Thousand Tribes were not Tuoba Yilu's entire capital, they were just the people he sent to seize the opportunity.
Wang Jun was very dissatisfied with Liu Kun's generous behavior - Daijun belonged to Youzhou - and firmly disagreed, so he fought with Tuoba Xianbei and retreated in defeat.
At this point, Tuoba Xianbei's center of gravity has moved to Yunzhong, Yanmen, and Daijun.
This is a fairly good land, suitable for both grazing and farming. In the Tang Dynasty, the Datong Army Jiedushi was set up to station in Yunzhong to control the grassland tribes. Tuoba Yilu even had more Daizhou than the Datong Army - the Western Jin Dynasty commandery was Weizhou in the Tang Dynasty, and Yan Menjun was Daizhou in the Tang Dynasty.
Liu Kun may have also realized that it was not appropriate to raise Tuoba Xianbei too fat.
But I am not a fool either. Tuoba Yilu and Liu Kun are sworn brothers. What's wrong with me taking some of my brother's land? After fighting so many battles and shedding so much blood for you, you just want to let go?
Liu Kun had no choice but to move the people in the northern counties of Yanmen that had just been recovered from the Huns. After all, he would have to borrow troops from Tuoba Xianbei in the future.
Liu Yao was not interested in Liu Kun's troubles. He only knew that Yanmen County was lost and Baibe Xianbei and Tiefu Xiongnu fled to Hexi. Although he still surrendered to Pingyang, his strength was greatly damaged and he would not be able to send many troops to fight for the court in the short term.
Now he is even more worried that Tuoba Xianbei will not be satisfied and will enter Xinxing County or even northern Taiyuan, which will threaten the Huns' pastureland.
He had a strong desire to retreat.
On the 21st, King Liu Can of Hanoi arrived at the camp outside Ximing Gate.
"Shiguang, I have decided to withdraw." After thinking for a few days, he had made up his mind.
Liu Can was not surprised at all and just asked: "Is it because of insufficient food and grass?"
"There are never enough food and grass because of the drought and locusts." Liu Yao smiled bitterly and said: "In the camp It’s only enough for more than ten days, where are you?”
"Absolutely." Liu Can replied: "Shi Le doesn't have any food?"
"He is not as good as me. He can support it for ten days at most, and then he has to go back to Yecheng to eat." Liu Yao said: "Grab it. I haven’t grabbed much, and I can’t make ends meet. I can’t continue this battle.”
Liu Can has nothing to say.
Last year, when we attacked Luoyang, we finally retreated because we ran out of food.
The past two years have been really difficult, and the Wubao commanders are also extremely tough. It’s not that they suddenly became brave, but they really can’t produce much food.
On both sides of the road, there are hungry people lying on the ground everywhere.
As long as you are willing to give out porridge and provide disaster relief, you can have as many soldiers as you want, but no one can produce food.
This battle is indeed like this.
“Will you come next year?” Liu Can felt a little pity.
Luoyang, the center of the world.
Not to mention that Aweng (Liu Yuan) never forgot about it before he died, he also longed for it and had a very strong urge to conquer it.
"Let's talk about it later." Liu Yao said uncertainly.
He felt in his heart that it was unnecessary.
As long as Luoyang is not short of food, it will be difficult to take it, just like this expedition.
Maybe the Jin imperial army went out of the city to fight in the field, but this seems impossible.
It’s difficult anyway.
"South of Yique, I heard that there are counties such as Guangchengze, Liangxian, and Xiangcheng. They have been stable for many years and are quite prosperous." Liu Can said: "If you can rush over and plunder, you will be able to gain a lot. Got it."
Liu Yao shook his head, he didn't quite believe it.
Droughts and locust plagues are large-scale, and it is impossible not to affect the local area.
Even though it is better than other places, it is still limited. Shao Xun's food reserves are probably about to bottom out.
Both sides were exhausted from this battle and needed to rest.
“I’m going to tackle the key problem next year. What does the King of Hanoi think?” Liu Yao asked.
"If King Shi'an becomes the governor, I would like to lead the army as the vanguard." Liu Can said.
Liu Yao smiled softly.
Although the King of Hanoi is a prince, he is not a prince. The Han Dynasty did not have a prince, only the emperor's younger brother (Liu Yi).
Since the emperor personally promised in front of everyone that day that he would return the throne to King Beihai when he grew up, this matter could not just be said.
The King of Beihai is now the crown prince and the crown prince of the Han Dynasty.
Perhaps the King of Hanoi is also disappointed?
Or maybe you have a little bit of ambition and want to make more achievements, so that you can squeeze out the crown prince and become the crown prince in the future? This possibility cannot be ruled out, it is even very likely.
But what does that have to do with him?
After the emperor ascends the throne, it is unlikely that he will conduct military campaigns in person. From now on, apart from the nobles of the Huyan clan, the only people who will lead the troops in war are members of the Liu clan. The King of Hanoi has many opportunities, it depends on whether he can seize them.
Liu Yao took one last look at Luoyang.
Some people seem to be climbing up to the Ximing Tower to look at the city.
"Let you be proud for a while first." Liu Yao thought to himself: "Maybe one day we will have civil strife among ourselves, and it will be easy to take Luoyang by then."
( End of chapter)