Chapter 329 New Tactics
Shao Xun had been waiting in the old city of Xinzheng for five or six days before receiving the first batch of food and grass.
He did not take things from the Yingchuan nobles in vain. He gave a batch of the seized property to the Yingchuan nobles and let them divide it among themselves. This was considered an act of buying food, although most of them did not want to sell it.
At this time, the enemy troops were also mobilizing frequently.
Just as Wang Bing saw in Waihuang County, batch after batch of Huns cavalry gathered and rushed towards the ancient city of Xinzheng.
Shao Xun, who was about to set off eastward, saw him and ordered the troops to stop.
The ancient city of Xinzheng is not big and is dilapidated due to being abandoned for many years, but it still has a certain role in protecting against wind and rain.
On November 21, Shao Xun climbed to the top of the city and watched more and more cavalry gathering in the field, wondering what they wanted to do.
The cavalry was mostly concentrated on the west, north, and east sides, leaving the south side alone, seeming to encourage Shao Xun to lead his troops to retreat.
Behind the cavalry, there were infantry who were struggling to transport food and grass.
"Are you planning to fight with me?" He frowned.
Now we are back to the situation when we faced Liu Cong last year. The Huns relied on their cavalry superiority to control the wilderness, blocking information and preventing you from communicating with the outside world.
At that time, Shao Xun had a clear goal, which was to advance into Luoyang, so he was focused on advancing and finally reached the city.
What now? What is the goal?
To the northwest of the ancient city of Xinzheng, Lu Ming led a cavalry army, fighting and retreating, and rushed to a gentle slope area with relatively undulating terrain.
When he was about to approach, Taobao shouted loudly on the high slope: "Stop acting, they are not chasing me."
Lu Ming turned around and saw that hundreds of soldiers had already turned around. , rushed back to the old city of Xinzheng.
He was immediately discouraged.
The area where they are located may have relatively undulating terrain because it is close to a mountainous area.
This kind of terrain is certainly not friendly to cavalry, but it is even less friendly to cavalry who rely on charge and close combat.
The more complex the terrain, the more advantageous the cavalry and archers will be.
The simpler the terrain, the more advantageous the cavalry and archers will be.
It sounds a bit contradictory, but it is actually very simple -
On the complicated mountains and hills, neither side can rush forward. What is more tested at this time is the riding skills.
Chao Cuo of the Han Dynasty mentioned several places where the Huns cavalry had an advantage: "going up the mountain and down the slope", "entering and exiting the stream", and "the dangerous road is steep".
These places require more advanced riding skills. There are not many scenes suitable for hand-to-hand charging, and they are not easily caught by the charging cavalry. This helps the Huns keep a distance and "chicken and shoot".
In fact, it is to give full play to the two advantages of the Huns' superb riding skills and accurate archery, so that the Central Plains cavalry, who are good at hand-to-hand combat, can be used effectively, which is in line with the art of war of "leveraging strengths and avoiding weaknesses".
Of course, on mountains and streams, cavalry is not as useful as infantry, but this is another matter.
And the extremely simple terrain, such as the endless prairie, not even a few rivers, except the grassland is sandy land, which is more suitable for the Huns light cavalry to fly kites in circles.
What I fear the most is the relatively flat terrain with many rivers, forests, houses, and ditches. There are many scenarios suitable for charging, but it is not very conducive to shooting in circles to widen the distance, which makes the mounted archers quite a headache.
Today, Lu Ming wanted to lure the soldiers to the undulating hills, and then kill them with mounted fire. Unexpectedly, the soldiers were not fooled and retreated after chasing him for a while. For this reason, he was killed by Tao Bao. Laughed.
"Is the general coming?" Lu Ming got off his horse and asked.
"We haven't received the confirmation yet." Taobao sighed: "So what if I don't come over? Do you have food?"
Lu Ming also sighed.
I played against Shao Xun once in May this year, but it ended in a hurry due to the locust plague.
It can be said that this was an unsuccessful military operation.
When summing up after the war, Da Hu repeatedly comforted everyone, saying that he had found a way to defeat Shao Thief.
Everyone became interested.
After Dahu told the method he was thinking about, everyone's expressions were brightened. You and I kept improving the details with every word.
I tried it today and it really works!
So he eagerly hoped that Da Hu would come over quickly and take all the 20,000 riders with him.
With 30,000 cavalry in hand, even if it is just a light cavalry with one horse and little armor, as long as reasonable tactics are used, Shao Xun will definitely suffer a big loss.
But real problems are also facing us: Is there enough food?
"When summer comes, there is a plague of locusts. When winter comes, there is a shortage of food. Is Shao Thief so lucky?" Lu Ming became more and more angry as he thought about it. He pulled out his sword and slashed it hard on a bush.
"This is life." Taobao smiled and said: "We finally caught Shao Thief, but we can't defeat him, alas. But it doesn't matter, come back next year. Set up a trap and take advantage of him. Shao Thief reached a hundred miles away, and then crawled back slowly."
"Haha." Lu Ming felt better when he saw Tao Bao's words.
The way to use troops is to maximize strengths and avoid weaknesses, and to avoid the real and avoid the weak.
Shao Thief's Silver Spear Army and Mansion Soldiers can fight, so I won't fight you.
You always have weaknesses and places that cannot be protected. We just keep an eye on these places and fight.
"Forget it today. I will go tomorrow and lure his cavalry again." Taobao said: "It is not easy for Shao to raise cavalry. It will be good if he can use up one more. If he can use them all Guang, it will be easier to fight next year. Maybe there will be a chance for Shao Thief to make a mistake and annihilate his Silver Spear Army.”
"Silver Spear Army..." Lu Ming groaned a little: "These people can fall asleep when the sky is full of shouts of death. The longest they have been as soldiers is six or seven years, right? If you want to annihilate them, you don't know what price you have to pay. ."
"Take your time." Taobao said with a smile: "Let's try it tomorrow."
"That's right." Lu Ming nodded.
The next few days were strange for both parties.
Shi Chao went south from Chenliu and entered the territory of Yangxia.
He led more than 10,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry troops and surrounded Yangxia County, because he heard that there were many so-called "field camps" gathered in the city.
The fighting lasted for four or five days, and they were never able to recover.
Shao Xun led his troops to leave Xinzheng, relying on vehicles for shelter, and headed east to Weishi.
The cavalry led by Lu Ming, Taobao and others were like flies, following closely behind, repeatedly harassing and blocking.
They even sent people in advance to dig roads ahead, destroy bridges, and in short, tried every means to create obstacles for you.
On the first day of march, the large army only traveled ten miles.
The next day, Thirteen Miles.
The third day, seventeen miles.
After three days, Shao Xun had a clear understanding: the Huns also learned war in the war, constantly improved and made progress.
The enemy cavalry looks more like they are covering for a certain unit. He had to admit that a side with a large number of cavalry could indeed effectively delay a side dominated by infantry.
He had to admit that people will make progress.
He took out the car formation and broke through the Huns' obstacles last year, which was a bit unexpected. But this year, the Huns seem to have figured out some ways to deal with him.
It took him three days to walk forty miles, which gave him a smell of danger.
November 29th, it was snowing heavily.
The Hun cavalry that had been staring at them suddenly withdrew and disappeared without a trace.
Maybe it was too cold, maybe there was insufficient food, maybe they completed their mission, but they ran away.
The next day, Shao Xun led his troops to regain Weishi County, which had been captured by the enemy.
Shi Chao failed to attack Yangxia and lost his troops and generals. He then attacked Yuan's Wubao but failed again. Seeing that the army's rations were running out, they had no choice but to retreat.
Before leaving, he vented his anger and destroyed some irrigation canals, blocked the wells in the vegetable patch, and set fire to some of the houses of the people in the field camp, and then hurriedly retreated through the Liang Kingdom.
At this point, the war east of Hulao Pass seems to have come to an end.
This ending is not satisfactory to both parties.
Shao Xun saw a huge crisis.
The Huns consumed the grain, cattle and sheep they had finally accumulated, and lost a lot of infantry, cavalry and horses. In the end, they could only retreat in despair, gaining nothing.
Next year, they may not come again.
In spring, when the pasture had not completely turned green, and even more so when there was no harvest, he was worried about food, let alone the Huns.
There may be fodder in the summer, but why do they need to come to Luoyang?
Perhaps, starting next year, his main target will become Shi Le.
A few days later, when he was leading his troops north to Junyi and clearing away possible remaining enemies, news came from the west of Hulao Pass: The Huns retreated in large numbers, passing through Hongnong and Hanoi, and retreated in two ways.
He immediately turned around and headed towards Xingyang. At this time, he met Wang Bing who was chasing after him in a hurry.
"Your Majesty." After dismounting, Wang Bing prostrated and fell to the ground, crying: "Situ has passed away."
"Huh?" Shao Xun didn't react for a moment.
But when I remembered that "Situ" refers to Sima Yue, the expression on his face suddenly became very rich.
Wang Bing glanced at him secretly.
At this time, Shao Xun had already calmed down and thought deeply.
"When will he die?" he asked.
"It's been half a month."
"Why did you come to the west? Do you want to pay a funeral?"
"I would like to take the prince back to Xuzhou."
"Inappropriate!" Shao Xun said subconsciously.
Wang Bing's heart skipped a beat. It was exactly what he thought, and Shao Xun was unwilling to let him go.
Shao Xun frowned.
Wang Bing said that he would take the crown prince away, but how could it be that simple? Will the princess also follow? This - how is this possible!
Shao Xunding stayed there and remained silent for a long time.
Wang Bing was anxious and stood up silently and said: "The prince has been protected by the prince for a long time, and he is very grateful. If he can be taken back to Xuzhou, he will form a good relationship with the prince in the future and help each other. Together they are the barriers of the imperial court.”
Shao Xun had calmed down, glanced at Wang Bing, and said seductively: "You guys! Do you know that this is to harm the prince?"
Wang Bing quickly defended: "We are all against God. I swear that I am willing to serve as my master."
"You swear?" Shao Xun sneered and asked, "It's not like I don't know the background of those soldiers in Fan County. How many people are left in the Kingdom's army?"
"About three thousand."
"The most reliable ones are these three thousand." Shao Xun said, "The remaining soldiers are either. He was born in the Qinghuo Army, either from Henan or Yanzhou. Let me ask you: Are the Qihuo Army obedient? "
Wang Bing said nothing.
"Some of the soldiers from Henan and Yanzhou were recruited by Situ during his lifetime, and some are powerful tribes of the nobles in the two states. Let me ask you again, are they obedient?"
Wang Bing couldn't resist, He argued forcefully: "I have been restrained by military law for a long time, so I will naturally obey."
"Don't be so confident!" Shao Xun pointed his finger at Wang Bing's chest and asked unceremoniously: "How did Zhang Fang die?" "
Of course Zhang Fang was killed by Zhi Fu, why should I ask? Wang Binggang was about to say something, but stopped again.
Why can Qian Fu kill Zhang Fang? After killing people, can you sway? If you enter no one?
This problem is worth pondering, it is closely related to your foundation.
"It seems that you have a little understanding in your heart." Shao Xun patted his shoulder and said, "Go back to Luoyang with me first, and see the princess and Shizi. Even if you want to take Shizi back, It's not such a ""
"" Wang Bing nodded and responded.
This time, you have to meet the princess and the son. If it wasn't for the war, he would have arrived.
After a big heart, he asked again, "This is a big break of the thief army, recovered Chen Li?"
"Can't talk about it." Shao Xun shook his head and shook his head , Suddenly asked: "Do you recognize Wang Youzhou?"
"Wang Jun?" Wang Bing shook his head and said, "Su Wu Wu."
After that, he added another sentence: "This person's heart is arrogant, and there is no son. Jun Hou has greatly offended him. I am afraid that there will be no good face."
Shao Xun frowned secretly. In the battle of Chang'an, the disaster was so far.
However, he quickly adjusted his mentality. Without the horses he snatched that time, it would be impossible for one person and two horses to intercept Wang Sang's troops this time.
Although these Xianbei horses are getting old and can no longer charge into battle as war horses, they still play a key role in his military system.
There are advantages and disadvantages. How can there be anything in this world where you just get the benefits without paying the price?
A man should not be opportunistic.
Shile's new tactic, he thought of other ways to deal with it, can a living person be choked to death by urinating?
On the 30th, the army set off for Xingyang. While deterring the enemy, it also passed through Hulao Pass and entered Luoyang.
(End of this chapter)