Chapter 779 Preset Battlefield
In the blue sky, white clouds bloomed, and geese flew by in a row.
Above the ground, the wind is blowing, and the flags are flying.
Thousands of riders from both sides fought fiercely in the wilderness.
Liu Runzhong rushed to the battlefield with 1,500 cavalry to join the nearly 2,000 volunteer troops led by Yin Xi.
They were quickly discovered by the Xianbei Qingqi wandering outside.
The two sides distanced themselves and exchanged shots repeatedly on the wide field.
Under the shouts, someone fell down from time to time.
Liu Runzhong had already been hit by an arrow, and the arrow was stuck in his armor, trembling.
More than a hundred people were shot down by the Qingqi brought from Shangdang, and the losses were heavy.
For the first time, he discovered that the intensity of this cavalry fight was a bit high.
Why don’t the Xianbei people retreat? Don’t you also have a large department and a leadership system? Why should we continue to fight when people are dead and we are suffering a loss?
Damn it, he can hardly hold on anymore.
When gathering his troops again, Liu Runzhong turned to look at everyone and said: "No retreat! It's the time to grit your teeth and persist, why retreat? Charge!"
Same tribe The system and lifestyle are the same, but the people are different. The difference is so big.
To put it bluntly, fighting in battle is about who can endure casualties more.
Judging from the moment of this confrontation, the Xianbei people seemed to be more tolerant than the Jie people.
Liu Runzhong actually wanted to retreat, but he didn’t dare today.
If he could not stop these Xianbei cavalry archers and sit back and watch them attack the Yi Cong army together with the Xianbei shock cavalry, the Yi Cong army would be defeated miserably. This responsibility was not something he could bear.
After the sound of the trumpet sounded again, Liu Runzhong divided the men and horses into two groups. One group had three to four hundred horsemen. He abandoned his horn bow, took out his sword and shield, and rode his horse to join the melee fight. The other group of thousands of horsemen still fought with the Xianbei cavalry. The archers circled and shot arrows, and when they had the opportunity, they drew their swords and slashed at each other. In the confrontation between mounted archers, they did not use arrows all the time. Sometimes they also used short soldiers to slash each other.
Behind them, the sound of drums seemed to be faintly heard.
That was the sound of a large group of infantry adjusting their formation as they advanced. Everyone knew that a large group of reinforcements was coming from behind the Jin army, but they didn't know how far away it was.
Under such circumstances, the Xianbei people became more and more anxious as they fought. After finding that they could not defeat the Yi Cong army, their morale was somewhat low.
After Liu Runzhong made a desperate move and personally led hundreds of cavalry to cover them up, they finally lost confidence, turned their horses and retreated towards Shiling Pass.
There are still hundreds of horsemen in the city, but now they all dismount and stand at the top of the city, looking hesitant, obviously not sure what to do.
"Go get the torch." A large army rushed to the top of the city. Looking at the cavalry from both sides who were walking hard along the hillside while shooting arrows at each other, he ordered: "I will light the fire as soon as I come back. . "
After that, he went straight down to the city, and then rushed down with hundreds of cavalry stationed behind the city to meet his defeated troops.
They are very fast, and they have found a good starting position. It is a gentle slope with higher terrain, and they can ride down directly.
The charge was so powerful that it directly swept away the slow-moving rebel pursuers who were going uphill, causing heavy casualties.
After he succeeded, he did not hesitate to fight. With a whistle, he slowly returned to Shiling Pass with more than a thousand defeated troops.
After Yi Congjun retreated, he retreated hundreds of steps to form a formation.
The two sides, one on the mountain and one at the bottom, looked at each other.
Liu Runzhong rode up and caught up with him. After finding Yin Xi, he whispered: "General Yin, I think the rope head is about to run away."
Yin Xi just led his team to pursue it in person. If he didn't let go, he was almost killed by the Xianbei army rushing down the gentle slope.
If he hadn’t given up the horse to him, he might not have been able to escape.
Seeing that Yin Xi was silent, Liu Runzhong said again: "General Yin, why should you blame yourself? This is how war is fought. You cheat me today, and I will cheat you tomorrow. It's normal. How can you win a battle? If you don't pursue, you will be scolded. If you pursue, you will be scolded if you encounter the enemy. This kind of thing is difficult to avoid, it all depends on luck."
Slowing down a little, he glanced at Liu Runzhong and smiled.
This guy can comfort people.
Indeed, how can you care so much when chasing after someone in a hurry? Without pursuit, the problem would be even greater.
It can only be said that Suotou is too cunning and he is too unlucky.
"You just said that the rope head was going to run away-" Yin Xi had just finished speaking, but he saw smoke pillars rising into the sky from Shiling Pass, and there was a faint light of fire coming out.
"This is what fighting in Suotou is like." Liu Runzhong added: "Although they are said to be powerful and dare to fight to the death, they still have the legacy of the Huns. They like to lure the enemy deep and harass them repeatedly, which makes them tired and demoralized. , and then launch a decisive battle when the time is right."
"They burned Shiling Pass, obviously not wanting to leave the complete city and residence for our army."
"They set the fire and then retreat. The enemy's plan is to pull the infantry brought by the king hundreds of miles away, then cut off the grain road, surround and destroy it."
"I expect that there will be a stronghold at Yanmen. , to block our army, the cavalry are scattered on the left and right wings, just waiting for them to attack."
After hearing this, Yin Xi asked: "Do you think the king has no chance of winning this battle?"
“The odds of winning are not high, it’s just a draw at most.” Liu Runzhong shook his head and said, “If Xianbei sets up a barracks and defends the city, is it possible to win with the more than 10,000 infantry brought by the king? ”
Yin Xi thought for a while. With more than 10,000 Silver Spear Army and Yellow Head Army troops, it might not be possible to attack the city. What’s more, it is impossible to attack the city with all the infantry. At most, thousands of people will be dispatched. , then it would be even more impossible to defeat it.
It is really dangerous to be unable to capture a city or a fortress, and to hold your troops under a fortified city, and then be attacked repeatedly by the enemy's cavalry.
“Stop talking about this now.” Yin Xi sighed and said, “Go up and put out the fire first.”
******
On the 28th, the flag of "General Shao" had been planted on the head of Shiling Pass. Shao Xun climbed up and looked into the distance, looking at the rope-headed cavalry cruising in the north, and asked: "Where are the Pingyang reinforcements?"
"We have passed Xiurong and are heading towards Loufan. Go." Zhang Bin replied.
"Let them change directions..." Shao Xun called his assistant and whispered a series of orders.
Liu Zuo quickly finished writing, and after checking that it was correct, he sent a messenger to take it away.
Zhang Bin was a little surprised. This war strategy is really...
"It's useless to come to Jinyang." Shao Xun said: "There are too few soldiers to fight. If the thieves guard the dangerous passes and strong cities, they may not be able to do anything. Shao Shen said There are only ten thousand people along the way, and it may not be able to change the overall situation. It is better to change the direction, or gain something. By the way, the Luoyan Army should not come, and let Duan Mobo join Shao Shen. "
Zhang Bin nodded slightly.
To defeat Tuoba Xianbei requires the efforts of the whole country, but it is quite insufficient at the moment.
"Let's go." Shao Xun glanced at Zhang Bin and said with a smile: "Suotou retreats step by step, abandoning the outskirts of Jinyang first, then abandoning Yu County and Shiling Pass. Looking at the situation now, Jiuyuan County (today's Xinzhou) I should have given up. He has offered so many sweet things, so let me eat them first.”
As he spoke, a mixed formation of infantry and cavalry was already heading north towards Jiuyuan County, Xinxing County. .
On the 30th, the deserted county was easily recovered.
Suotou fought with the Yi Congjun, each suffering hundreds of casualties and retreating north.
At this time, Shao Xun's military order arrived in Jiuyuan: the entire army was stationed and guarded the city. They were not allowed to advance north. Anyone who disobeyed the order would be killed.
Jiuyuan is forty miles away from Shilingguan and is the seat of Xinxing County.
Fifty miles north of the city, you can reach Xinkou.
According to reports from the front, there seems to be a large army of rope heads near Xinkou, with no less than 20,000 people. They have set up a stronghold on the mountain and camp across the river.
Although Shao Xun is not sure about Suotou's specific troop deployment, his years of combat experience tell him that it is best not to fight at the enemy's chosen combat location.
It is becoming increasingly clear that Xinkou is Suotou’s planned decisive battle location.
At this time, Xinkou had indeed become a sea of soldiers.
A large number of herdsmen and servants recruited from Pingcheng, Xinping, Yanmen and other places are digging trenches, building earthen walls and repairing camps.
More than 10,000 infantrymen were stationed in camps and mountain strongholds, intending to rely on rivers and mountains to consume the Jin troops and make them attenuated and exhausted.
The war horse neighed not far away.
A group of cavalrymen chose their starting positions and hid in the valley near the infantry camp and behind the woods.
Once the Jin army fails to attack the fortress and retreats, they will charge heavily to kill as much of the Jin army's strength as possible.
Another part of the cavalry was sent further south to actively look for the Jin cavalry and consume them as much as possible.
As Shao Xun expected, this was their preset battlefield: to lure the Jin army hundreds of miles out of Shiling Pass, gather in the open wilderness between Xinkou and Shiling Pass, and annihilate them.
This is not a grassland style of play, but a mutant tactic that mixes the Central Plains and grasslands.
The only question now is how the coaches of both sides will choose.
On the first day of June, Tuoba Yulu came to Xinkou and climbed the mountain to look at the south.
In the flat basin, lush vegetation stretches as far as the eye can see.
The Wubao and villages are no longer found, and they are so desolate that it seems as if a world-destroying plague has hit this place.
Will Thief Shao come yet?
Tuoba Yulu was a little unsure. He had preset a battlefield to annihilate the enemy, but the enemy did not come, leaving him feeling empty.
This is just like the Han Dynasty ambushing the Huns in Mayi, except that the two sides have reversed their roles.
What went wrong?
Or maybe Thief Shao is too sophisticated and doesn't want to put himself in danger?
Just change to a stupid young general. He can easily win a big victory by stopping his troops outside the Xinkou, unable to advance or retreat.
But if Shao Thief doesn't come, he will be in some trouble.
After several battles, more than 4,000 troops were lost.
The leaders of the various tribes will not care how many people Shao Thief killed or injured, they will only focus on themselves.
Thinking of this, Tuoba Yulu became a little irritable.
The confrontation between the two armies will continue for a long time, and the pressure on him will increase.
For no reason, he considered the previous proposal of the new parties: to stop fighting and make peace.
But the envoy seemed to have been detained and did not return...
On the second day of June, Shao Shen received the military order from Shiling Pass in the valley east of Xiurong.
After reading it several times, he did not hesitate and recruited more than a thousand tribal light cavalry on the spot, along with a thousand volunteer troops and 500 Xue cavalry, and turned to the northwest.
On the fourth day of June, when they were approaching Lan Valley, two thousand riders of the Luoyan Army rushed in to join them.
On the fifth day of June, the entire army arrived in Langu County. After a day's rest, they took more than 2,000 soldiers with them and marched out of Caochengchuan.
(End of chapter)