Chapter 459 In the Mountains
The changes in Hanoi quickly spread to Pingyang, but it caused almost no splash because the emperor Liu Cong personally went to conquer the country.
On July 20th, on the mountains in the north of Beiqu County, Pingyang County, Liu Cong's emperor's canopy almost reached the clouds.
At least one-third of the Han Dynasty's capable troops gathered here, densely distributed in various valleys, ready for battle.
At the time of life and death, Liu Cong became much more awake.
There is no need to knock the five stones apart.
Women don’t play anymore.
The fish stopped watching.
He put on the iron armor, rode on the back of a heroic horse, held a curved bow and a sharp blade, and looked like he was fighting to the death.
Chen Yuanda wiped his tears.
Vaguely, he saw the manly spirit of the emperor personally leading the charge in the battle of Changping.
The emperor also had a glorious past.
At that time, he was not afraid of death, he dared to fight, he was extremely brave. If not, there wouldn't be a group of brave men gathered around him to successfully seize the throne at the critical moment.
It is a pity that after the political stability of the government, the emperor fell into the gentle land of women, and his spirit was drained away, which led to this.
Fortunately, at the critical moment when Xianbei invaded in large numbers, the emperor came to his senses and took charge of the expedition himself, vowing to fight to the death with the traitors.
A small-scale fighting has begun at the foot of the mountain.
All the camps of the Forbidden Army were dispatched, and even the armored cavalry had chosen their starting positions, waiting for the final word.
There are also armored cavalry on the Xianbei side. The number is smaller than here, and they are also watching with eagerness.
But in today’s battle, it seems that they will not be needed.
In the narrow and rugged valley, the armored cavalry could not move, so the Xianbei heavy cavalry charged straight up.
The Han Dynasty also sent out well-armored guards and elite cavalry to charge against the enemy. For a moment, the men fell on their backs and their horses neighed in pain.
On the gentle slopes on both sides, the Xianbei people were aggressive and shouting for a fierce battle.
The Huns' imperial troops fighting them were light cavalry. After teasing with arrows in front of the formation, they successfully aroused the anger of the Xianbei people. When they saw them charging towards them, they immediately turned around and ran away.
While running, he turned around and shot arrows, continuing to tease the Xianbei people.
People on the Xianbei side kept falling off their horses, and they became even more angry, biting at the back without stopping.
But after chasing each other, because of the rugged mountains, the horses on both sides slowed down and felt a little unable to run.
Seeing this, the Xiongnu brigade divided into groups of more than a thousand cavalry and turned around to outflank them.
They crossed the creek, rushed through the gentle slope, and galloped through the pine forest. Their superb riding skills were amazing.
While charging, they kept firing arrows, and the Xianbei people fell down every time.
Fighting in such rugged valleys, neither side can raise their horse speed. They often encounter obstacles, or go up mountains and down slopes, or jump across streams. The overall speed is appallingly slow.
In this environment, what is tested is the ability to control horses, and what is tested is superb riding skills. There are very few opportunities for hand-to-hand combat between the two sides. The Xianbei people are completely unable to take advantage of the impact. Instead, they are knocked off their feet by the Huns' bows and arrows. , heavy casualties.
At the back, they finally collapsed.
The Tuoba Xianbei cavalry armed with long spears fell off their horses in large numbers, and hundreds of people knelt down and begged for surrender.
Yi Lu's nephew Pu Gen was furious and sent out another group of miscellaneous Hu Qingqi.
The fighting continues...
Under the canopy, there was a burst of cheers.
Liu Cong's face relaxed.
Liu Kun colluded with Tuoba Yilu and set out from Jinyang to attack Xihe and Pingyang counties.
The Jin army was divided into three groups.
The first route was led by Liu Kun himself, mainly the soldiers he recruited in Zhongshan. They set out from Taiyuan and marched into Langu. They wanted to go west from the Fen River and then turn south, but Liu Can was killed just before leaving. Unable to resist, the two sides faced off in the mountains.
The second route, led by Han Ju, the supervisor of the shogunate, went south from Jinyang, marched along the Fen River, passed Guanjuejin (commonly known as Queshu Valley), and entered the territory of Xihe. It was rejected by Lan Yang, the general of the Han Dynasty.
The third route, led by Tuoba Pugen, went from Daibei to south, and rushed along the east bank of the Yellow River, crossing the entire Luliang Mountains, taking advantage of Liu Kun's troops to attract the attention of the Xiongnu. , suddenly appeared in Pingyang.
From the perspective of the route of advance, the first two groups were weak, with Jin soldiers as the main force and Xianbei soldiers as the supplement. They attracted the attention of the Han army head-on. The Xianbei cavalry led by Tuoba Pugen made a sneak attack from the side and rear, trying to capture Pingyang in one fell swoop.
The plan was very good, and the Huns indeed divided their forces to attack Liu Kun and Han Seoul. But how can I put it, these two groups are too weak to attract the main force of the Huns.
When the traces of Tuoba Pugen were discovered, Pingyang was shocked. Emperor Liu Cong led the main force of the imperial army to march in person, and intercepted the Xianbei cavalry rushing south in Beiqu County.
The Huns' reaction was not slow.
If the Xianbei cavalry is allowed to break into the flat Fenshui River Valley, the situation will be difficult to deal with.
Now that we meet them in the endless mountains, it is conducive to the Huns to ride on foot.
The so-called Beiqu County is located in the north of today's Ji County. In the Tang Dynasty, it was Jichang County, the seat of Cizhou. Tuoba Pugen actually came from the Zhenwu Army of the Tang Dynasty when it went south and passed through Zhelu Army City and Kelan Army. , Shilou Pass, enter Xizhou, and then go south to Cizhou.
If the Xiongnu had discovered it a little later, they would have really entered the valley plains. Fortunately, they were blocked in the mountains.
The two sides have been facing each other in the mountains for several days, and they have fought more than ten major battles, with each side winning or losing.
Tuoba Xianbei went south in a hurry, carrying not much supplies, and in order to march quickly, he left behind the old and weak women and children who were driving their cattle and sheep south to graze. There is no doubt that the stalemate is not good for them. The longer the stalemate lasts, the greater the possibility of failure.
Liu Cong is also a veteran of war and understands this very well.
After seeing that the battle between the two sides was gradually ending and everyone had withdrawn their troops and returned to their camps, he turned to look at Tingwei Chen Yuanda with a complicated look on his face.
"Chen Qing." Liu Cong said.
"Your Majesty." Chen Yuanda took a step forward and bowed.
"Chen Qing is the pillar of the country, and I trust you." Liu Cong said: "Now we can lead ten thousand people north to Xihe and Taiyuan, and intercept Tuoba's retreat."
"I obey. Purpose." Chen Yuanda responded in a deep voice. "Ask the heroes in the mountains again." At this point, Liu Cong's face looked very ugly. He just heard him say: "Why did Xianbei rush hundreds of miles without any obstruction? Have the people in the mountains all turned their backs on the big men?"< br>
"According to the order." After Chen Yuanda agreed, he said: "Your Majesty, Xianbei came too quickly, and it is understandable that the tribes in the mountains did not respond in time. In this critical autumn, , Your Majesty should be lenient.”
"Hmph." Liu Cong snorted coldly and said: "I can be tolerant, but some people are wolf-hearted and have both snake and rat sides, but they may not be pure ministers. But Chen Qing went north, and Xianbei couldn't hold on for a few more days. Once defeated, , I will chase them one after another. Then I will ask those mountain chiefs what their intentions are. "
Chen Yuanda was silent.
Compared to the late emperor, I am not a magnanimous person, and he understands this very well.
Just a few months ago, he was almost killed by Imakami.
This matter originated from Queen Liu.
In the first month of this year, Queen Mother Zhang passed away. When Queen Zhang (niece of the Queen Mother) heard about it, she was "overwhelmed with grief" and also died.
In March, the emperor established his concubine Liu E as the queen and built the Yi Palace (huáng, Tonghuang) for her.
He was the first to advise, thinking that the palace was already sufficient for living, and building a new palace was too extravagant, which made the emperor furious and wanted to kill his whole family.
The ministers remonstrated with him, but the emperor refused to obey.
At the critical moment, Empress Liu secretly sent someone to inform her of the suspension of the execution, and then she went to Shushu to remonstrate with him before the execution was stopped.
Chen Yuanda knew that Empress Liu also wanted to protect herself and did not want to offend the civil and military officials of the court, but she was indeed a smart and sober person.
The emperor is different.
Although he was reluctantly pardoned in the end, the words he said made Chen Yuanda feel secretly in his heart: "You should be afraid of me, but it makes me afraid of your evil!"
This The words were obviously filled with resentment.
Yes, civil and military officials from all over the dynasty came to persuade him, and the emperor was forced to submit, but he must have felt very uncomfortable, right?
Chen Yuanda knew that he was already hated by the emperor.
But he didn't feel too scared. As a minister, you only have to be loyal.
The late emperor was very kind to him. Even though he is extravagant and willful now, he is not disobedient at all and will do his best in state affairs until the day he dies.
Seeing that the emperor had nothing else to say, Chen Yuanda saluted again and prepared to retreat.
"Wait a minute." Liu Cong stopped him and asked, "Just now, we came from Hanoi to report that the Jin thief Shao Xun sent his troops northward and made a serious attack. Liu Anxi asked for reinforcements to attack Heyang, please. What do you think?”
Chen Yuanda thought about it for a while and replied: "Your Majesty, the imperial court has decided on the policy of 'crossing the Yongzong River' and it should not be changed. Although the three cities of Heyang are blocking my way south, we will have to fight sooner or later, but not now."< br>
When Liu Cong heard this, he nodded slightly.
In fact, not only Chen Yuanda, the DPRK and China basically have this attitude.
After Jinyang was gained and lost, the situation changed. The imperial court faced strong pressure from Tuoba Xianbei and it was difficult to take care of all directions.
Forget about Hanoi, they have even shrunk in the direction of Guanzhong.
Liu Yao actually fought very well. With a partial division, he won repeated battles despite a weak military strength, and once occupied Chang'an.
If Tuoba Xianbei had not moved south in a large scale and the imperial court had transferred some troops from Guanzhong, this might have defeated the Jin generals and made the situation in Guanzhong completely clear.
But there are no ifs in the world. Tuoba Xianbei did go south, and Liu Yao had to retreat to Feng Yi again, holding on and waiting for the situation to change.
Speaking of which, the imperial court actually owed something to Liu Yao, which caused many twists and turns in the good situation in Guanzhong.
With Liu Yao like this, it is even harder for Liu Ya to get support.
To put it bluntly, the stall was a bit big, and we were attacked everywhere. It was like a battleground, and we had to give up one or two directions.
Hanoi is obviously in a state of being abandoned, but——
We can’t just ignore it.
"Chen Qing." Liu Cong hesitated and said, "What if Shi Le is called upon to reinforce Hanoi? Will he respond to the edict?"
Chen Yuanda said without hesitation: "Since this year , Shi Le and Cao Yi's tributes are gradually sparse, but they still dare not separate themselves and stand on their own. Especially Shi Le, who is caught between Liu Kun, Wang Jun and Shao Xun, and has General Zhenyuan nearby to watch, so he will not dare to mobilize troops at this time. Most likely he will come."
"Don't dare to cause trouble?" Liu Cong asked: "Does that mean Shi Le is independent?"
"Your Majesty has already made up his mind, but I don't dare. Nonsense." Chen Yuanda replied.
Liu Cong was silent.
There are not many stupid people who have reached this point.
Don’t the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty know what Shi Le was thinking? It's just that everyone is pretending to be stupid.
Cao Yi agrees.
The tribute sent this year is less than last year, which shows that it has developed a lot of ambitions.
But can you touch him? cannot. Even more unnecessary.
At least so far, Cao Yi has not shown any obvious signs of rebellion, and is still willing to cooperate with the court's general strategy.
Shi Le needed the court's help more than Cao Yi.
He has neither the capital nor the behavior to be independent.
In the Battle of Zhemati, although he was reluctant, he sent troops after all.
This time to reinforce Heyang, Shi Le weighed the pros and cons. No matter how dissatisfied he was, he had to pretend to send troops according to the order.
This is the game between the king and his ministers.
I know your thoughts, you know that the court knows your thoughts, and the court also knows that you know...
"Pass an order to General Shi Le to send troops to Hanoi to obey the orders of General Anxi." Liu Cong made up his mind and ordered.
(End of this chapter)