Great Han Empire

Chapter 472
Li Hong, the general who conquered the North, rushed to the Mayi Camp in Yanmen County in mid-April, accompanied by a fourth battalion of 2 horses.Li Hong ordered Yan Liang to command the four battalions, and set up Wang Dangying, Chen Hao, Wu Xiongying, Gaoshun Liyunying, and Dingbo's battlefield battalion.Zhang He was transferred to be the commander of the Huben camp.The number of troops starting the frontal attack from Yanmen County increased to 4000.

At this time, there were only 2 troops inside the Great Wall, and Xian Yufu and Zhang Yan each led [-] soldiers.Xian Yufu led Fan Li's battalion to garrison Jinyang, Zhang Yan led Sun Qin's battalion to garrison Taiyuan and Shangdang counties, Yu Digen and Peng Lie led troops to garrison Juzhu Fortress and were responsible for escorting food and grass for the army. .Xian Yuyin led a battalion to Xihe County.

After Li Hong entered the camp, he immediately issued an order to attack northward to all ministries.Yan Rou and Yan Liang respectively led their troops to attack Shanwucheng, the prefecture of Dingxiang County, from the east.Yushi went up from the west along the Yellow River and led the army to attack Luoxian and Tongguo.Pang De led the Black Panther Yi Cong Battalion to follow the Jade Army to support it, and Zhang Yun led the Huben Battalion to follow the Yan Liang Army to clear the way for the General Zhengbei.

In April, Gao Lan and Lei Chong led 5000 troops to Heyin City, and Wen Chou led 5000 troops to Yudaiyuan, which is [-] miles west of Heyin City.The two armies set up large camps that stretched for several miles on the south bank of the Yellow River, and erected the battle flags of the five armies of Xu Rong, Qu Yi, Yang Feng, Zhao Yun, and Liu Bao. The food and supplies are heavy, and the [-] troops gathered on the south bank of the Yellow River are about to cross the river and attack Jiuyuan City.

Under the leadership of Liu Bao, the Xiongnu iron cavalry stationed in Heyin City quickly rushed south to Duliao River to join Xu Rong's army.In mid-April, Xu Rong raised all his troops and marched towards Shanan City. (Shanan City is located at the eastern end of the Hetao area, where the Yellow River turns. From here, the course of the Yellow River turns from north-south to east-west.) He planned to lead his army across the river to attack the other side after Yushi's army captured Tongguo City and continued northward. Jiling City, and Yushi's northward army formed a pincer attack from east to west.After taking down Jiling City, the Northern Expedition Army was divided into east and west, and attacked Yunzhong together. At that time, the Hu nationality coalition army would face a fierce attack from a huge army of nearly 20.

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The Hu people always thought that the Han army's attack time would be either May or August. They did not expect that the Han army would advance the attack time to mid-April.Although they were attacked by the Han army in advance, the Hu coalition forces did not panic. Their army had launched an attack on the Han army as early as mid-March. It's just a battle strategy.They changed the harassing attack by using a small group of troops to a combination of holding on to the city and fighting on the grasslands, trying to delay the attack speed of the Han army as much as possible.The Hu people are not used to defending the city. They like to wander around like wild wolves on the grassland, like to sneak up and attack, and like to lure the enemy into deep and then surround and wipe them out with superior forces. But now they are facing an extremely large number of Han troops. For the army, the method of surprise attack and encirclement and annihilation was ineffective. They could only imitate the combat methods of the Han people and hold on to the city to hinder the advance of the Han army. They tried to hold on until the rainy season in June and drag the Han army down alive.

At present, the domestic situation of the Great Han Kingdom is very serious. There are imperial disputes inside, disasters and rebellions outside, the treasury is exhausted, the people are displaced, and supplies are scarce.The reason why the emperor of the Han Kingdom forcibly launched the fortress campaign at this time was to gain an absolute advantage in the battle for imperial rule.Once the imperial system is established, it is hard to say whether the outing of the fortress will continue.

In the end, no matter who wins the battle for imperial lineage, or by what method, it will cause a great loss of national power without exception.The powerful Xiongnu caused the north-south division in order to compete for the position of the Great Shanyu. As a result, the Huns turned from strong to weak, and since then lost their ability to compete for hegemony on the prairie.The Xianbei people fought for the throne last year, and their strength was weakened. The country that Tan Shihuai had conquered for decades was about to fall apart in a blink of an eye.The Han people seem to be no better there.After six years of war in the Great Han Kingdom, it has been stormy and the building is about to collapse. However, the emperor of the Great Han Kingdom ignored the safety of the country and launched a struggle for imperial rule when the country was crumbling. The result is self-evident.

After a comprehensive analysis of the news obtained from various sources, the leaders of the Hu clan, such as Xubuguduhou and Tuobafeng, agreed that the battle for the imperial lineage in the Han Dynasty had reached the point where swords were on the verge of breaking out. .The unstable political situation of the Great Han Kingdom will first affect the morale and food supplies of the Han army fighting outside the Great Wall, and then these Han soldiers will have to withdraw to the Great Wall due to the domestic situation. In this way, the crisis outside the Great Wall will disappear, and the Han army will If you want to attack beyond the Great Wall again, you may have to wait for a long time.

The leader of the Hu tribe believed that if the rainy season on the grassland came as scheduled in mid-June, then the fighting in the first half of the year would basically be over.During the nearly two-month confrontation, as long as the Hu allied forces firmly keep the Han army out of Wuyuan County and firmly fix the battlefield on the grasslands of Yunzhong County, then after the rainy season comes, the Han army will have to retreat to Dingxiang The county stood firm, and the goal of the Hu coalition forces was fully realized.As for how the situation will develop after the rainy season, they cannot guess.In their view, the worst outcome is to temporarily avoid the edge of the Han army, completely abandon all the land south of Yinshan Mountain and retreat to the prairie.

But after withdrawing from Yinshan, Xubuguduhou and Xukui had the biggest problem, that is, after their defeat, would their tribes continue to follow them and retreat to the north of Yinshan, or would they choose to surrender to the Han and stay in the south of Yinshan?This question is actually easy to answer, and most of the tribe will choose to stay.Crossing the Yin Mountain is the territory of the Xianbei people. Sooner or later, they will be swallowed up by the fierce Xianbei people, become slaves of the Xianbei people, and live a life like livestock, but surrendering to the Han people will make their life infinitely easier.This has been proven over the centuries that noble chiefs cannot deceive their people.

If the four counties in northern Xinjiang are recovered by the Han army, the Huns and Dongqiang people will lose their living territory. Although their tribesmen can surrender to the Han Dynasty and continue to live on this grassland, these noble leaders may not be able to win the Han Dynasty. The emperor's pardon, especially for those Hun rebels.Xubuguduhou and Xukui knew very well that if they retreated through Yinshan Mountain with only tens of thousands of cavalry, they would be reduced to Tuobafeng's subordinates, and their soldiers would flee back home one after another as time went on, waiting Their end will be very miserable, unless they fight back immediately, but after their defeat, the property clan is lost, and they have no power to fight back.

Similarly, the four counties in northern Xinjiang were lost, and the Huns and Eastern Qiang were defeated. The Xianbei Tuobafeng immediately lost his two allies, the Huns and the Eastern Qiang, and he was finished.He has suffered a huge loss in strength and cannot compete with other tribes on the prairie.Therefore, the situation outside the Great Wall is very obvious now. The Huns, the Eastern Qiang, the Xianbei, and the Xianbei have to hug each other tightly and fight to the death, otherwise everyone will be finished.

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In order to survive, the Hu allied forces must fight the Han army to the death, keep the Han army out of the grassland, and grasp the initiative on the battlefield. Otherwise, even if there is a situation in the Han Dynasty that is beneficial to the Hu people outside the Great Wall, they will not be able to continue Occupy the four counties of northern Xinjiang.Victory is not obtained by God's reward and luck, but by one's own hard work and struggle.

For this reason, after a long period of discussion, Xubuguduhou and other leaders of the Hu tribe formulated a combat strategy to resolutely block the attack of the Han army and kill a large number of Han army forces.They planned to use the complex terrain and strong city of Dingxiang County to block the attack speed of the Han army and deplete the strength of the Han army at the beginning of the war. After the Han army crossed Dingxiang County and entered the grassland, the Hu nationality coalition forces gathered their forces and took advantage of the iron cavalry. Look for opportunities to beat the Han army hard, and take the opportunity to attack the Han army's grain and grass transportation.

After the main strategy for fighting the Han army was finalized, the leaders of the Hu tribe had a heated debate on the deployment of troops.The focus of the debate is which direction the [-] troops of Xu Rong, Qu Yi, Yang Feng, Zhao Yun, and Liu Bao deployed by the Han army in Henan will attack.

One opinion held that the Han army led by Xu Rong would forcibly cross the river, attack Wuyuan directly northward, occupy the Yinshan key pass, cut off the retreat route of the Hu allied forces, and form an east-west pincer attack with the main force of the Han army attacking frontally, encircling the Hu allied forces.Xubugudu Hou held this view, so he insisted on heavy troops stationed in several cities north of the Yellow River.

One opinion is that if the Han army led by Xu Rong wants to forcibly cross the river, it must pay an astonishing price, and after crossing the river, he will have to attack the city by force. , it is very likely that the entire army will be wiped out.With Li Hong's military habits, it is impossible for him to ignore the lives of soldiers and make such a terrible strategy.

Bai Matong believed that the reason why the Han army led by Xu Rong gathered in the Duliao camp was because some of these troops were originally stationed in the Duliao camp in the Duliao River and the Fengyun iron cavalry camp and Wu cavalry camp in the Great Wall Fortress. It was adapted after the reorganization of the army, and part of it was adapted by the Yellow Turban Army stationed in the Lishi City Camp. They chose the Duliao Camp, which is the closest to the army, to gather for nothing more than to save energy and food.Baima Tong said that Xu Rong's main attack direction should be to cross the river from the direction of Shanan City to Jiling, and then enter Yunzhong County from Jiling.With the cooperation of the Han army on the East Road, he can cross the Yellow River without a single soldier, and then he joins up with Li Hong's main force, so that the Han army can gather at least 20 absolutely superior troops to attack us from the front.Therefore, Baima Tong insisted on deploying an army of [-] in Yunzhong to stop the Han army.

After the two sides argued for a period of time, Hou Bugudu's opinion gradually gained the upper hand.The Han army has 20 troops, and the Hu coalition forces tried their best to gather 15 people. They are at a significant disadvantage in terms of strength. Duhou is the great Chanyu, and his opinions cannot be disrespected.Tuoba Feng later thought of a compromise idea.Before Xu Rong crossed the Yellow River to join Li Hong's army, Xubu Guduhou and Xu Kui led an army of 20 troops and set up heavy troops along several cities along the Yellow River and various key passes in Yinshan Mountain to prevent accidents.Once all the [-] troops of the Han army gathered in the Yunzhong area, the troops stationed in the cities of Wuyuan flew to the Yunzhong battlefield to gather with the strongest troops to meet the Han army.

This strategy was immediately approved by everyone.

Xubuguduhou sent a large number of Xiongnu scouts to Heyin and Meiji in order to ensure safety.Soon, the information collected from various sources fully proved that his judgment was wrong.Xu Rong's main force has already arrived at Shanan City and is about to cross the river into Yunzhong County to meet Li Hong. However, the two Han army camps built by the Han army in Heyin City and Yudaiyuan each have only [-] soldiers, which is simply a bluff. However, as for the food, grass and supplies transported to the two big camps, it was a scam.Some Xiongnu scouts pretended to be peasants and sneaked into the grain transportation team. They were surprised to find that the peasants transported grain, grass and baggage into the camp in the morning, but pulled them out again at night.The two camps looked bustling with people from a distance, but they were actually empty inside, except for civilian husbands and [-] defenders, there was nothing.

The intention of the Han army to do this is obviously to deceive the Hu coalition forces and induce them to garrison heavy troops in Wuyuan to reduce the attack resistance of the Han army on the frontal battlefield.

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Yushi led the army from Wuzhou to Luo County in a hurry, and took the lead in shooting the first arrow of the Northern Xinjiang War.

Tie Yue and Lei Zi each led their troops to launch feint attacks at the east and west gates, Xu Huang and Yan Zhao led their troops to attack the south gate, and He Feng and Pan Ta led their battalions to attack the north gate.After a day of mad attack, the army suffered heavy losses, but Yushi ordered all the ministries not to rest, and to attack again overnight.

One of He Feng's subordinates, Sima, was seriously injured and died in battle. This greatly stimulated He Feng. He couldn't hold back his grief and indignation.Several of his personal guards did not stop him, so they had to follow behind and rushed up.When the soldiers who were attacking the city saw that the captain personally went into battle, their morale was greatly boosted, they roared like thunder, and marched forward bravely.He Feng jumped up the tower along the ladder, killed seven people in a row, and tore through the defense of the Huns, and nailed the city wall like a sharp arrow, "Brothers, kill, kill, take down the city wall..."

Inspired by He Feng's bravery, the follow-up Han soldiers were inspired by He Feng's bravery. They all risked their lives and rushed forward, invincible. .Without hesitation, the Huns immediately cast in the reserve reinforcements, killing flesh and blood on the narrow city wall.

Panta, who was commanding under the city wall, saw the Han soldiers on the city wall retreated step by step after being killed by the Huns, and bloody heads and stumps and broken arms fell down the city like rain. He rushed up to the city wall with a hundred guards like a hurricane, "Kill, kill these barbarians for me, kill them..."

A school lieutenant, a captain, and two fearless generals led their troops to the city wall one after another. This greatly boosted the morale of the siege soldiers, and the thunderous killing sound suddenly rose into the sky, and the fierce bloody battle was over in an instant. Out of the competition, the Huns were unable to withstand the ferocious attack of the Han army and retreated steadily, and then suffered many casualties, and their defense collapsed instantly.

He Feng was drenched in blood and his eyes were wide open. He exhausted all his strength and chopped off the head of the Hun Qianchang with a knife, and then kicked the blood-spitting headless body off the city wall, "Brothers, kill it, open it!" City gate, open the city gate..."

In the middle of the night, Luo County was recovered.

Surrounded by a group of personal guards, Yushi strode into the city.He Feng and Pan Ta rushed to meet him.

"It's a good fight." Yushi smiled, "The first victory in the first battle of the fortress belongs to you."

He Feng said sadly: "My lord, we have lost too much."

"I know, but we need speed. We need to hit the cloud as fast as possible at all costs." Yushi waved his hand and said, "Leave the city to rest immediately with the trilogy, and set off tomorrow morning."

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Tongguo City is located on the bank of the Yellow River, eighty miles away from Luo County.

Yushi led his army to Tongguo city at dusk, and began to attack at dawn the next day.This time, He Feng and Pan Ta led a feint attack from the north and south, and Tie Yue and Xu Huang led two battalions to attack the east gate of Tongguo City.The two battalions took turns attacking the city, resting in turn, all night long, without stopping for a moment.At noon on the third day, Xu Huang took his guards to the tower and successfully captured Tongguocheng.

After Yushi's 5000 soldiers stormed Luo County and Tongguo City, they had beheaded [-] levels and captured two cities. The results were very great, but their losses were also heavy, with nearly [-] casualties.

Yushi commanded the army to go up a hundred miles along the north of the Yellow River without stopping, and then attacked Jiling in Yunzhong County.At this time, on the opposite side of Jiling, outside Shanan City to the west of the Yellow River, Xu Rong had already led an army to set up a camp and was preparing to cross the river.

Jiling was garrisoned by the Xiongnu heavily.The Hu allied forces knew that whether Jiling could be held and how long it could be held was directly related to whether the war could be held until the rainy season came, so they asked Qiequ (a mid-level Xiongnu officer) Nonggu to lead [-] Huns to hold on to Jiling.

Yushi said to the commander of the fourth battalion, "I will give you three days to take down Jiling."

Tie Yue hesitated for a moment, and said: "My lord, the army marched nearly 2 miles in six days, and even attacked two battles without any time to rest. The soldiers are already exhausted. If we continue to fight like this, our losses will be great. Amazing. My lord, why are we so eager to attack the city? Can’t we wait a few days? A few days later, under our cover, Master Xu’s army can come over with at least [-] people, so that we will have an absolute advantage in attacking Jiling. "

Xu Huang also persuaded: "My lord, there is still more than a month before the rainy season on the grassland. Our 10,000+ army has swept all the way, and we can completely hit the foot of Yinshan Mountain. Is it necessary for us to pay such a big price to attack a small town?" ?”

Yushi was silent.Zhao Yun's whereabouts are a secret, except for the generals of the North Army and the senior staff in the mansion, no one knows that he is no longer in Xu Rong's camp.Although Zhao Yun's battle flag is still flying in the Han army camp across the river, it is just Heng Ji leading thousands of cavalry to pretend.At this time, Zhao Yun probably had conquered Linrong, the prefecture of Shuofang County, and plundered a large number of cattle and sheep from the Eastern Qiang people into the Gongxian Desert.

Time, what is needed now is time.Once Zhao Yun's whereabouts were discovered by the Huns, the consequences would be disastrous.More importantly, Xu Rong's army will never cross Hebei at all. He and Yang Feng's infantry have already rushed to the camp in Heyin City secretly. On the other side of the river, Qu Yi and Liu Bao's cavalry would also gallop away.

It was actually his own army who attacked Jiling.After taking down Jiling, he and the Black Panther Yi Congying, who came later, led an army of tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians posing as Xu Rong to go north to Yunzhong.Yushi thought for a while, explained the development of the battle situation to several subordinates, and finally said, "Even if we finish fighting the 2 people, we will take Jiling within three days."

On the seventh day of the battle, Yushi faced the impregnable Jiling and commanded the army to launch the third siege battle.

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(End of this chapter)