When he learned that the reinforcements were coming, Wang Huan couldn't believe his ears. It was more than a thousand miles from Chang'an to Linwei. Not to mention the heavy wind and snow, even under normal circumstances the reinforcements would not have arrived so quickly. Feeling suspicious, he called Ren Qia, and the two came to Dongcheng to watch.
The banner is fluttering in the wind, and the big word "Yong" on it is correct. Thousands of war horses are under the city, stretching for several miles, all of them are light cavalry. It seems that they are riding two people.
The soldiers on the city wall pointed and laughed excitedly. The reinforcements were coming, and there was no need to worry about the Qin army breaking the city. Wang Huan felt relieved. If Qingqi calculated the itinerary, it would be right.
Ren Qia said happily: "Open the city gate and welcome the reinforcements into the city."
Wang Huan said cautiously: "Wait a minute, Ren Sima, do you have someone you know? Don't let the Qin army deceive the city."
Ren Qia nodded, stood on the city wall and shouted loudly: "Which general is leading the army? Please come forward and answer."
Cen Minghu urged his horse forward and raised his face to look at the city wall. Ren Qia recognized Cen Minghu and said with a smile: "It's Cen Minghu, Cen Zhizhong, the king's governor, hurry up and open the city."
Wang Huan was overjoyed, and the soldiers at the top of the city cheered loudly. Ren Qia even rushed down to the city to greet him. Wang Huan rolled his eyes and ordered: "Don't raise your voice, otherwise the people of Qin will find out."
Heavy snow covered the ground. Linwei City was five miles away from the Qin army's camp. There were no footprints on the white snow. The arrival of the Yong army's reinforcements did not alarm the Qin army.
After seven days of clear weather, the snow on the ground had almost melted, and the rest was frozen solid. The scouts reported to Qifutanda that they could march.
On November 10th, the Qin army began to withdraw from the camp and return to Tianshui County. Looking at Linwei City shrouded in a wall of ice, Qifu Tanda waved his riding whip vigorously, and it made an explosion in the air.
Raise the whip finger
Looking in the direction of the city, Qifu Tanda said loudly: "I will let you live for half a year longer, and wait until next year when Yu comes to take the city."
With their horses and whips raised, Qifu Tanda led more than 20,000 Qin troops to retreat westward in a swaggering manner. Qifu Tanda had already figured out that there were only a few thousand soldiers and horses in Linwei City during the attack a few days ago, and he would never dare to leave the city to pursue.
Viewed from the top of the city, the Qin army was in disarray when they withdrew, which was intentional by Qifu Tanda. He secretly had thousands of soldiers and horses in ambush. If Linwei City dared to pursue him, he would take advantage of the situation to counterattack and capture Linwei City.
The army walked for more than ten miles without seeing any movement in Linwei City. The reconnaissance cavalry came to report that the ice outside the west gate of Linwei City had not broken.
Seeing that Laiweicheng would not pursue them, Qifu Tanda ordered the march to be accelerated and strive to reach Xinyang City in three days.
At the beginning, the Qin army remained vigilant, but as Xinyang City got closer and closer, even Qifu Tanda relaxed.
November 13th, Shen Zheng time.
The Qin army was still thirteen or four miles away from Xinyang City. Qifu Tanda looked at the sky. It gets dark early in winter and twilight has already appeared.
The marching speed in the snow was not fast, and it could only cover more than ten miles in an hour. If we arrived at Xinyang City, it would be completely dark. After a brief discussion with his subordinates, Qifu Tanda decided to camp.
It was not easy to cut down trees in the ice and snow. They simply dug out a trench, took out the antlers they carried, and scattered the caltrops outside the camp to set up camp.
The smoke rises and the hot porridge is served to drive away the chill. At Haishi, the Qin army's camp was quiet. After a day's journey, everyone was tired. Xinyang City was not far away. Except for the patrolling soldiers, everyone fell asleep peacefully.
The day after the Qin army withdrew,
The ice wall outside Linwei City was broken, and Cen Minghu led four thousand light cavalry and four thousand war horses carrying thousands of armored riding equipment to chase the Qin army.
The road was muddy, but it clearly pointed out the direction in which the Qin army was walking. Cen Minghu was not in a hurry to catch up, and by the end of the next day he was sixty miles behind the Qin army.
On the third day, he was thirty miles behind the Qin army. Cen Minghu planned to launch an attack when the Qin army began to enter Xinyang City and crowded at the city gate.
The reconnaissance cavalry reported that the Qin army was stationed more than ten miles east of Xinyang City. Cen Minghu immediately ordered to find a shelter from the wind to rest.
There was no fire, so I brought oil noodles and dried meat with me. I ate the food in the snow, feeling warm after the coolness.
At midnight, the bright moon was in the sky, illuminating the snowy ground with a vast expanse of white. Five miles east of the Qin army camp, large black spots appeared. Cen Minghu appeared with Qingqi.
"Dismount and rest for a quarter of an hour," Cen Minghu ordered softly without rushing to attack the camp.
A quarter of an hour later, Cen Minghu ordered the heavy cavalry to wear armor, and he led three thousand light cavalry to attack first.
Three thousand war horses were running on the ground with a sound like thunder. Qifu Tanda was awakened and hurriedly ordered the soldiers to put on their armor and be on guard.
Just waking up from sleep, Qin Jun's hands and feet were weak, and he finally took out his sword and gun and went out of the tent. Before he could form a formation, Yong Jun had already swept away the iron caltrops, moved away the antlers, and charged towards the camp.
Three thousand light cavalry were divided into three groups and slashed back and forth in the Qin camp like sharp arrows. The Qin army scattered and fled in all directions.
Qifutanda divided the guards around him into multiple groups, killed many fleeing soldiers, and finally organized a formation. He gathered nearly ten thousand Qingqi around him, preparing to surround the Yong army's Qingqi.
The heavy sound of horse hoofbeats came from outside the camp, Qifu Tanda was heartbroken, Yong Jun unexpectedly
Heavy cavalry was dispatched.
Looking back, the black armor came rushing in like a mountain, invincible wherever it passed. The newly formed formation collapsed under the impact of the heavy cavalry.
Cen Minghu divided the light cavalry into two teams, the left and right, and attacked again from both sides. Qifu Tanda saw his subordinates riding their horses and scattered. Knowing that the defeat was certain, he had to urge the horse to avoid the heavy cavalry and ran away.
…………
Sixty miles south of Xinyang County there is a Wubao - Roujiwu. There are 300 soldiers stationed in the Wubao and tens of thousands of grain and grass are stored in it. At this time, the outside of Wubao was covered with tents of various colors, and more than 10,000 tribesmen of all ethnic groups came to gather.
The person who gathered these tribes was Gao Changqing, the governor of Tianshui County. When the Qin army attacked Ji County, Gao Changqing was inspecting Shichang City, which was more than a hundred miles south of Ji County. After learning that the Qin army had captured Ji County five days later, the accompanying officials advised Gao Changqing to escape quickly.
Gao Changqing said: "As a prefect, I have the responsibility to defend the territory. I should live and die with Ji County. The Qin army invaded in a large scale. The governor Wang would not sit back and watch Tianshui County be captured. He would definitely send a large army to abandon the county and flee. It is not a fool's errand. It is foolish to abandon the county and flee. We plan to persuade various tribes to send troops and wait for the opportunity to recapture Ji County."
Various ethnic groups live in Tianshui County, including Xianbei, Di, Xiongnu, Qiang, Jie and Han. The Han and Di are mainly farming, while the Xianbei, Xiongnu and other ethnic groups are mainly nomadic. After Gao Changqing became the prefect of Tianshui, he strengthened his contacts with various tribes and was fair in his transactions with tribes, gaining the trust of each tribe.
"Yu plans to go to Roujiwu, summon all the tribes, and wait for an opportunity to take back Yixian County." Gao Changqing said.
Of course, the tribes would not come just because of Gao Changqing's words. Messengers went to each tribe to give
The terms of the offer were to provide food and drink during the war, and to keep the proceeds for personal use. Afterwards, each person would be given ten shi of corn, double that for the injured, and 30 shi for the dead.
Grazing is not allowed in winter. Feeding cattle, horses and other livestock does not require much labor. The tribesmen inevitably cause trouble and cause headaches for the leaders.
The messenger brought Gao Changqing's convening conditions, and many tribal leaders were moved. Gao Changqing had a good reputation, and the promised conditions should be fulfilled.
A small tribe only has a few hundred people. If you send more than a hundred people to fight, you can get more than a thousand stones of food. If you don't worry about food, dozens of new lives will be added to the tribe in the next year. The more new lives there are, the tribe will naturally grow. The stronger.
Gao Changqing looked at the densely packed tents around Wubao and couldn't help but have a wry smile on his face. He originally thought he could gather about 3,000 people, but he didn't expect that more than 10,000 people from all ethnic groups came to gather.
Two days ago, when Gao Changqing came out of the dock to work for the army, he saw children who were only four feet tall coming to join the battle. It seemed that the tribal leaders had brought everyone who could mount a horse to eat for free.
The food stored in the Wubao can only last for half a month. I don't know if the army will arrive by then. If there is no food, these tribes will disperse.
At that moment, a fast horse galloped towards Wubao from the north. The thin figure rose and fell with the horse. When the horse galloped closer, Gao Changqing saw clearly that there was a young man of twelve or thirteen years old on the horse.
These nomadic tribes live with horses, and even the young man’s riding skills are so excellent, so it’s not free of charge.
The young man galloped on his horse and shouted something. Gao Changqing saw the troops outside Wubao getting on their horses and galloping towards the north. In an instant, the horses formed a torrent and galloped towards the north.
"Call that young man quickly." Gao Changqing ordered
.
After lighting the incense, the young man came to Gao Changqing. Gao Changqing saw that the young man was wearing a felt hat and a sheepskin robe, which was obviously left by an adult. His sleeves were long and his body was fat, his hair was messy, his face had black streaks and white streaks, and his eyes were bright and full of aura.
Looking like he was a Huns, Gao Changqing asked: "What is your name and what are you talking about outside?"
The young man rolled his eyes and said, "Jie Bohe, you didn't say anything."
Gao Changqing smiled and said: "Five stones of corn."
The young man immediately grinned and said, "There was a war outside Xinyang City, and many people died."
"Ah", Gao Changqing stood up in surprise. No need to ask, reinforcements had arrived.
The trumpet was sounded to summon the leaders of various ministries to discuss matters, but only a few people came. Less than one-fifth of the more than 10,000 people outside Wubao were left at this moment.
Gao Changqing smiled bitterly. Although these tribesmen came in response to the call, he could not direct them. When he heard that it was beneficial, he almost ran away.
I don't know if the reinforcements are still in the Xinyang City area, so Gao Changqing congratulated Jie Bo: "Take Yu quickly and I will give you five stones of corn afterwards."
In Xinyang City, the battle did not end until dawn. Cen Minghu ordered people to cook and clean the battlefield. Yesterday's raid was a complete victory, killing nearly 10,000 Qin soldiers. The entire camp was soaked in blood, and the strong fishy smell lingered.
The Qin army fled in a hurry, leaving behind their baggage and food. They got more than 3,000 horses alone and captured more than 1,000 prisoners of war. It was a pity that Qifutanda escaped to Xinyang City.
Cen Minghu ordered to seize the time to clean the battlefield and try to leave in the afternoon. After all, the Qin army who escaped still had many plans, and the battlefield was too close to Xinyang City. He had to guard against the Qin army's counterattack.
flutter.
The captured baggage and grain and grass were piled up like a mountain, and there was no time to clean up the leather armor on the corpses and the scattered swords and guns. Fortunately, more than 3,000 extra horses were loaded with the baggage and grain and grass, and discharged into a convoy several miles long.
At the end of the day, scattered Qingqi began to appear, and Cen Minghu became very vigilant. Is the Qin army coming so soon? When I saw clearly who was coming to ride, the people on the horse were dressed in messy clothes. They didn't look like the Qin army, but more like herdsmen.
Cen Minghu was relieved. This must be because the surrounding tribes got wind of it and came to the battlefield to pick up "rags". He didn't bother to care about the corpses scattered outside the camp, letting the people peel off the leather armor from the corpses, pick up the weapons on the ground, and some even picked up scattered arrows.
Soon, more and more people came to pick up "rags", and there were at least five to six thousand people. Cen Minghu became worried and ordered the soldiers to stand ready to prevent these people from rushing into the formation.
Cen Minghu's worries soon turned into reality. Someone crossed the trench and approached the camp. Cen Minghu ordered the sound of dysprosium to the sky as a warning.
More and more tribesmen appeared around the camp. They did not dare to cross the ditch due to the power of Yong's army, but they circled around the camp like vultures in the sky.
Noon has arrived, and the baggage has been loaded. Seeing more and more people gathering, Cen Minghu raised his eyebrows and ordered the convoy to leave the camp eastward.
Three thousand light cavalry were divided into six teams. One team opened the way, one team guarded the prisoners of war, and the other four teams cruised around the convoy. If any tribesmen approached, they would be shot with arrows.
The long movement of the convoy made those tribes extremely jealous. If they could seize the baggage, their own tribe could immediately grow stronger and become the overlord of one party.
The leaders of several tribes gathered together to discuss for a while.
They decided to join forces and launch an attack together. Even if they lost some lives, they would try to grab some baggage and go back.
Cen Minghu looked at the men who were slowly following the convoy, sneered and said, "I don't know whether to live or die."
Raising the three-pointed two-edged sword in his hand, Cen Minghu said coldly: "Cen Qing, Hua Da, follow Yu Yu and charge for a while to teach these guys a lesson."
At this time, Gao Changqing came to the battlefield under the leadership of Jie Bohe. The Yong army's convoy left, and the remaining tribesmen rushed in and happily began to pick up the leaks and rob the tents that the Yong army did not want. Broken swords, guns, and leather armors could be seen everywhere. Grab and fight.
Seeing that those leather armors were all made according to the Qin army's standard, this was a victory; the corpses were piled up like a mountain, the blood on the ground was frozen, and looking at the blood was red, this was a great victory.
Gao Changqing said happily: "Hurry up and catch up eastward, ask the army to work together to capture Ji County and recover Tianshui County."
