Chapter 621: Exciting
On November 3, the cavalry commander Tian Jun led five thousand sudden cavalry all the way south to Jiexiu.
……
The cold wind was biting, and thousands of horsemen and horses were breathing like clouds, running on the hard frozen soil.
They were the assault cavalry of the Taishan Army who had been ordered to go south six days ago. Their original mission was to cut off the supply of grain and fodder south of Taiyuan and obtain supplies for the main force of the Taishan Army under Taiyuan City.
But a few days ago, Tian Jun, the cavalry general who led 5,000 cavalry south this time, suddenly received intelligence from behind the flag, saying that traces of a large-scale Han army had been found in the Jiexiu area.
Therefore, Tian Jun decisively realized that this was a once-in-a-lifetime fighter opportunity, so he led his two assault cavalry battalions and three Wuhuan battalions, totaling 5,000 cavalry and 8,000 horses, to quickly go south.
Long before sending troops, Zhang Chong granted Tian Jun the power to make decisions in the south, and ordered Li Fu and Ma Wu to be controlled by Tian Jun.
So, on the road from Qixian County to Jiexiu, the Taishan Army's sudden cavalry rolled southward, and Qiu did not make any mistakes.
It was November, the time was Shenshi, but the sky was already starting to get dark.
The fields on both sides of the road are covered with frost, and from time to time you can see some frightened rats scurrying around in them.
Under a large apricot-yellow banner, the short but majestic Tian Jun stood on a horse and smiled at Li Fu and Ma Wu:
"Old Li, Old Ma, you look at the frost and snow covering the field ridges, it will definitely be another good year next year."
Li Fu and Ma Wu also smiled, unable to conceal the joy between their brows.
There is no way, since entering Yanmen Pass, the Taishan Army's advance has become smoother. First, they opened up Feihuxing, allowing troops and grain from Hebei to continuously support the Bingzhou battlefield. They also conquered three passes and defeated the Bingzhou army. Now they have surrounded Taiyuan.
It can be said that at this point, the core area of Bingzhou has almost fallen into the hands of the Taishan Army, and it is only a matter of time before Bingzhou is taken into its arms.
Now, Tian Jun and others were even happier when they heard that a group of Kansai reinforcements had appeared in the Jiexiu area. After all, no one can have too many military exploits.
But along the way, Tian Jun's joy was still shadowed by the fact that not many people could be seen as the army passed through the county. Although he also understands that the villagers are afraid of the army, but we are the Taishan Army. Haven't they heard that the Taishan Army is an army that saves the suffering of the Guizhou leaders?
But this little haze quickly dissipated, because they soon arrived in Jiexiu.
Jiexiu is located in the middle of Jin Dynasty, on the east bank of Fenhe River, with an area of 80 miles from east to west and 80 miles from north to south. Its southern part is a mountainous area, its central part is a hilly area with rolling hills, and its northern part is a plain with flat terrain.
Because of its fertile land, it has always been an important county in the Taiyuan Basin. It bears the burden of Guosangma, and its surrounding suburbs are fertile and there is no open land. Villages are dotted here and there, thousands of families are living in fireworks, and they are lush and green.
So Tian Jun thought, no matter how bad things were, it would be better when he arrived in Jiexiu.
But what?
Tian Jun's expectations were soon dashed. There were ruins everywhere along the road. He was wondering, had Jiexiu been robbed?
His questions soon came to an answer.
In front of him, lying on the side of the road, was a group of ragged refugees with desperate expressions. When they heard the sound of horse hooves in the north, they seemed like a group of small animals and panicked to avoid them. However, when it was too late, they knelt down on the ground in despair, kowtowed and begged for mercy.
At this time, in the thick dusk, a mighty cavalry flashed out of the smoke. The swaggering flag, the sophisticated armor, and the willful look all showed that this was an iron-blooded army.
Therefore, these refugees are even more desperate, because in their simple understanding, the more such an army is, the more greedy and violent it is.
Just like this, in the crowd, children were crying, the old and the weak were groaning, and their eyes were in confusion. There was no way to survive in the sky or on the earth.
Sure enough, when the cavalry on the opposite side saw him and others, they gradually slowed down their horses and began to circle around them.
On their periphery, these cavalrymen gathered more and more.
At first, these refugees were all kneeling down, and they did not dare to look at those people at all, for fear that a single look would bring disaster to themselves.
But as time passed, there was no movement from the cavalry, and some bold refugees began to peek.
They saw the cavalry standing neatly on their horses, and their expressions did not show any ferocity or greed, but instead showed curiosity, pity and anger.
Are these people pitying us?
At this time, a man walked out from among the cavalry. He was as small as a child in the crowd, but his majestic appearance made these refugees dare not look directly at him.
The person who came was Tian Jun. He helped the man in front of him and asked:
"Where are you from and why are you living here?"
The man was trembling and couldn't speak clearly. Tian Jun understood because he was such a person before.
But just when Tian Jun was about to ask the next person, the person suddenly cried, then sobbed and said:
"We are all from Xiaonanli in front of us. A group of soldiers came to our place to kill and loot. We all fled here to avoid trouble."
Tian Jun frowned and asked a few more questions, such as how many troops the opponent had and who they were, but he got no answer.
After thinking for a while, Tian Jun called Li Fu:
"Old Li, take your troops and go to the front quickly. If you can fight, fight. If you can't fight, come and repay me as soon as possible."
Li Fu took the order and left without hesitation.
Soon, Qianqi rolled sideways and headed towards Jiexiu's front.
After Li Fu and others left, Tian Jun asked the army to give these refugees some food, and comforted them:
"Don't be afraid, fellow countrymen. We are the Taishan Army. We are the team of the poor in the capital of Guizhou. We are now going south to wipe out the local tyrants who harm others. I don't know if you have heard of our Taishan Army. When we get to the place, we show mercy to the old and the poor, and open warehouses. We will provide relief, help the hungry, and eventually we will allocate land to everyone, so you don’t have to be afraid. With our Taishan Army protecting you, no one can harm you.”
After hearing such words, the refugees whispered, but no one said a word. Obviously they knew the Taishan Army, but judging from the performance of these people, it should not be a good impression.
Sure enough, the one who just spoke couldn't help but said:
"General, I see that you seem to be good people, but how can you be the Taishan bandits? We all know the Taishan bandits. They burn, loot, and do everything. They even killed people in Hebei Province. There’s no one left.”
Tian Jun laughed angrily and asked:
"You have never seen the Taishan Army, how do you know this?"
Seeing that Tian Jun was angry, the refugee who was leading the group did not dare to say anything more and just lowered his head.
At this time, another person explained:
"General, these are what the Jia family in our hometown said."
Tian Jun understood at this time, and he asked without explaining:
"Do you want to go back to your hometown?"
All the refugees nodded, so Tian Jun said boldly:
"Our Taishan Army is never afraid of rumors, because we always use practical actions to tell everyone who is our own team. Fellow villagers, don't you want to return to your hometown? Then come with us."
After saying that, Tian Jun jumped on his horse and said to the riders behind him:
“People’s homes have been occupied, what should we do?”
The riders shouted:
"Get rid of thieves and bring peace to the people!"
"Get rid of thieves and bring peace to the people!"
……
At this sound, the refugees went from being panicked at first, to being dubious, and finally couldn't help but burst into tears, sighing that this was really a rescue army. Not long after, the cavalrymen who had just gone down turned back, and Li Fu, who was the leader, ran directly to Tian Jun and reported:
"Shuai Tian, the people in front have been captured. They are all from the Liangzhou Army."
Tian Jun suddenly realized that the Kansai reinforcements were nearby, and asked:
"Have you been tortured? Where is the main force of the enemy?"
Li Fu nodded, but after a moment of hesitation, Tima walked to Tian Jun and whispered:
"Tian Shuai, the Kansai Army in front of us has 50,000 people. Our numbers are too small. I'm afraid it will be disadvantageous to attack like this."
Tian Jun was also surprised and asked again if it was true.
Li Fu affirmed:
"I copied several of them separately, and they all said so. It should be correct."
Tian Jun thought for a while and asked another question:
"Then did you miss Han Qi?"
Li Fu felt a little ashamed and said:
"We have wiped out everyone in the township, but before we passed, a group of enemy cavalry ran away. We attacked from behind and could not catch up."
Who knew Tian Jun was so happy:
"Okay, just let those people run away."
So, he called all the military officers and arranged it as follows.
……
When Hu Zhen rushed back to the camp with his tooth soldiers, all the troops in the camp were eating.
Hu Zhen was in a panic, but when he arrived at the camp, he started to slow down his horse again and walked slowly through the camp.
Along the way, he greeted the Western soldiers on the road from time to time. These people were all his former troops and were very familiar with Hu Zhen.
They didn't notice Hu Zhen's panic, but instead gathered around him and started complaining to him.
Some people are saying that they have been walking for half a month from Chang'an and it is too hard. Some complained that the food in the army was too unpalatable, and some of them said that the Qiang and Hu people in Guo Bin camp always harassed them with singing and dancing, and begged Hu Zhen to transfer those Qiang and Hu people elsewhere.
All in all, they are trivial things. In the past, Hu Zhen would listen to these people's complaints very seriously, but today, he had something on his mind and was unwilling to stay any longer.
After a brief exchange of greetings with the old men, he led the tooth soldiers through.
The old soldiers who stayed behind felt bitter and could only say a few sour words:
"General Hu is different after all. He can no longer listen to a few sincere words from our old brothers."
After that, Hu Zhen kept going all the way back to the middle tent, and then the Chinese army sounded the general's drum.
The intensive and violent drumming soon woke up the entire battalion officials. They looked at the Chinese army, not sure what was going on.
As for the generals of each battalion, they were very professional. When the first drum sounded, they had already left their tents and rushed to the central army. Sit upright inside.
After all the generals were seated, the first thing Hu Zhen said was:
"The Taishan army has come to kill."
Everyone present exclaimed, but didn't say much.
At this time, Hu Zhen had already made a decision. Since the Taishan bandits had already arrived, he must fight, otherwise he would never be able to lead troops again.
So he told everyone about his determination to inspire everyone's military morale.
But it was obvious from the silence present that the generals did not agree with what Hu Zhen meant.
Among them, Guo Si and Fan Chou even winked at Li Jue, signaling him to talk to this old nonsense. We still need to plan this battle in the long term. Now we haven't figured out how many enemy troops have arrived, so we have to fight them decisively?
Besides, fighting is not impossible, but you have to come up with a plan first. They can't let Liangzhou soldiers fight, and then let Bingzhou soldiers and Xiyuan soldiers sit back and watch.
But before Li Jue could speak, he heard Zhang Ren and a group of Yizhou generals standing up and respectfully saying to Hu Zhen:
"Now that we are facing a powerful enemy, we should serve our country, so please give us the order, Commander-in-Chief."
As soon as Zhang Ren and the others spoke, Pang Yan stood up and challenged Hu Zhen:
"Shuai Hu, our Xiyuan Army invites us to fight."
Hu Zhen was a little touched. He didn't expect that the first people to support him were the Xiyuan Army. It seemed that they still had the country in their hearts.
So he turned to look at Li Jue and said with emotion:
"Zhiran, what do you think?"
Li Jue was quite embarrassed at this time. What could he do?
Now even Yongyi's troops and horses on the periphery are fighting. If he says that he won't fight, wouldn't it be embarrassing for Hu Zhen? After all, no matter what, your own people still have to help your own people.
So Li Jue had no choice but to say:
"I am willing to fight this bloody battle for your Majesty and the Taiwei."
As soon as Li Jue said this, the matter was basically confirmed. After all, the remaining Lu Bu and others are bound to fight.
So, Hu Zhen looked around and said impassionedly:
"This governor has been specially selected by His Majesty and the Grand Master, and has been entrusted with the important task of aiding the army. Now north of Sanguan, Taiyuan is besieged, and this is an opportunity for the province to be in danger. At this time, we should inspire our conscience, and we can only fight to the death. If the enemy can live up to the kindness of your majesty and the grand master, we will fight to the end. We must let the Taishan traitors understand that they cannot touch me in Kansai. If you touch me, you will die."
The generals were impressed and cheered up.
So Hu Zhen struck while the iron was hot and began to adjust the formation for this battle.
He ordered Lu Bu's Bingzhou Army to join forces with Zhang Ren and other Yizhou troops to defend the north. The Yongzhou troops will then guard the second line, and the last line will be Li Jue and other Liangzhou troops.
After all, he still thinks about Li Jue and the others.
After explaining the formation, let’s talk about tactics. Hu Zhen summed up this battle in four words:
"Replacing offense with defense."
At the beginning, Lu Bu and other Bingzhou troops were used as outposts to attack and ride, and they first sent out sentries to detect the number of Taishan troops on the opposite side. If the enemy army is large in number, return to camp first and hold on with strong strongholds, and then let the Yongliang soldiers and horses in the second and third lines launch attacks in turns.
In the end, the enemy was defeated with this continuous attack.
After this arrangement, the generals had different thoughts, but they didn't say anything.
When everyone returned to their camps to explain their defense, Hu Zhen suddenly said something like this:
"The country and the Taiwei have been raising soldiers for a long time. Tomorrow is the time for our army to use force. I have decided that tomorrow will be a decisive battle. If there is a battle, there will be no retreat. When all the armies see my banner and my banner does not move, they will not take a step back. I will kill anyone who retreats.”
After speaking, Hu Zhen looked at everyone present, including the Liangzhou generals, with indifferent eyes.
In this battle, there is no retreat.
(End of chapter)