The north of Gaoping is sparsely populated, and large city supplies are only hundreds of miles away. Zhang He was walking in a hurry and didn't bring any food. He didn't know whether he could insist on catching up with the main force in front.
The only thing Zhang He could rely on was that Wei's horses were better, faster and stronger. If the horses of Han and Wei were the same, Huang Zhong would never be able to catch up.
Both sides did not bring torches, so they could not move forward at night, and they all rested by the Qingshui River to drink and rest.
In early winter, horses can still dig up the soil and eat grass roots, but the soldiers have no choice but to resist without food. There are no tents to protect against the cold wind at night, so people and horses huddle together to keep warm.
Zhang He looked at the stars in the sky and said to himself that we had no tents and no food, and the old guy couldn't have either. He might freeze to death tomorrow morning. He didn't know that Huang Zhong was fully prepared.
The Han cavalrymen each carried half a month's worth of compressed food, and they all wore winter coats made by the Guangzhou military workshop. The inner lining was filled with feathers from chickens and ducks, making their upper bodies light and very warm.
The next day, at dawn, the two cavalrymen of the Han and Wei Dynasties set off at the same time. They ran on the desolate land outside the fortress as if they were playing a chasing game.
When the news came from the scouts at the rear, Zhang He was so angry that he whipped his horse's buttocks and ran forward. He didn't expect Huang Zhong to be so tenacious. He said to himself, I will take you to run for two more days. After two days, the men and horses will be exhausted before turning around and fighting.
In the next two days, we continued to chase each other, but as the endurance of the horses gradually declined, the marching speed gradually slowed down every day. However, we still ran nearly 400 miles in three days, and we were approaching the south bank of the Yellow River in the blink of an eye.
"If we continue to march at this speed, we will catch up with General Cao's main force in three days." When resting on the third night, Zhang He looked at the marks on the stone and fell into deep thought.
When Cao Zhen was suppressing the rebellion in Hexi, in view of the long distance between the armies, in order to facilitate unified dispatch and command, he left marks on the march so that each unit could calculate the march time based on the marks.
Zhang He took advantage of the dim light of dusk to patrol, and saw that the soldiers who had not eaten for three days were in low spirits. He thought to himself, how could he stop to counterattack in this state? Even if he could catch up with Cao Zhen, would he still starve to death? So he decided to divert to the northeast and go to Fuping, the former Beiji County seat, for supplies, which would only take a day and a half to arrive.
If Huang Zhong continued to pursue, Zhang He planned to eat and drink enough to defeat the Han army at the foot of Fuping City, then cross the river with enough supplies, and then turn northwest to Wuwei.
Zhang He cheered everyone up at night, promising that they would have wine and meat when they arrived in Fuping, and asked the soldiers to cheer up and persist, and he would personally kill Huang Zhong when the time came.
No one questioned Zhang He's decision, because everyone knew that it was the only way to survive.
Huang Zhong's troops pursued him to the Yellow River. Under the introduction of General Anding, he knew that Cao Zhen was two hundred miles away in the northwest, but his target at this time was only Zhang He, so he followed in the direction of Fuping.
In the 33rd year of the First Emperor of Qin, Qin General Meng Tian was ordered to drive the Huns from the north and recover a large area of land including the Yellow River. After the war, forty-four counties were built along the river. Fuping County was established at that time.
Fuping County is surrounded by mountains and rivers. The geographical situation is very important. It was a fortress for defending the nomadic people in the north. In addition, it was irrigated by the Yellow River and had developed agriculture. It was once a very prosperous place. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, it became the seat of Beidi County. Later, due to the Qiang people many times The rebels seized the city and moved in and out three times, finally settling in Zuofengyi in the 15th year of Zhongping Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty (185). (now Fuping, Shaanxi)
In the decades from the end of the Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms, wars between the Qiang and Han continued on the northwest border. Fuping County next to the Yellow River was not as good as before. In addition to a large loss of population, the city was old and dilapidated. Beidi County, Fuping, Lianxian and Lingzhou, bordered by the Yellow River, The county has a population of only 5,000, so Zhang He's desire to have enough to eat is basically a daydream.
Fuping, with only more than 400 households, was only the size of an ordinary village in the Central Plains. The people donated food in front of the might of the Wei soldiers, but Zhang He's troops could only barely satisfy their hunger.
After simply filling his stomach, Zhang He led his army out of the city to fight against Huang Zhong. He thought that although the number on his side was smaller, he would be more energetic after having just experienced supplies. However, the outcome was often surprising. All the Han soldiers had bright eyes and complexions. Still, it’s not like experiencing cold or hunger.
Could it be a flashback? Zhang He obviously couldn't understand, but since he decided to fight back at this time, he still said harsh words before the battle, "Old Huang Zhong, you have been chasing me for a few days. It seems that you want to die. I will help you today."
"Finally don't want to run away? Are the soldiers starving? There will be no pain if you die." Huang Zhong stroked his beard and laughed meaningfully.
Zhang He raised his head and sneered: "Old man, do you still have the strength to shout? When all of you are dead, I'm afraid it will take a month to feed so many war horses."
"Wei general Zhang He is known to be tough on words and soft on legs. I'm going to kill rats with this sword." Huang Zhong shook his head sarcastically.
"Old Huang Zhong, today is your memorial day next year. The whole army will attack." After Zhang He finished his harsh words, he waved his hand forward and charged with the cavalry behind him.
"My sons, the hunting has begun." Huang Zhong also commanded the Han army to hedge.
The cavalry of the Han and Wei Dynasties clashed on the south bank of the Yellow River. Time seemed to go back to the Qiang-Han war decades ago, or to the even longer war between the Han and the Huns. The dilapidated and decaying city walls of Fuping watched silently.
The hungry Wei soldiers went into battle as soon as they had filled their stomachs. Soon, they suffered from abdominal pain due to the violent movements. The pain made the body slowly begin to slow down. Fatal slowness on the battlefield was a disaster. Zhang He used all his strength to fight Huang Zhong. After three or four rounds, we saw the surrounding Wei soldiers being knocked off their horses one after another.
What kind of spectacle is this? Where did the Han soldiers get their physical strength?
At the moment when Zhang He was in a trance, Huang Zhong slashed Huashan with a force that almost landed on the opponent's neck.
Zhang He woke up at the critical moment. He used the handle of the gun to hold the blade and pushed it up, barely parrying Huang Zhong's powerful and heavy chop. Countless cold sweats broke out from his vest.
Is Huang Zhong still so powerful? Zhang He was so shocked that he swallowed his saliva. From the corner of his eye, he noticed that Wei soldiers were being shot down one after another. He thought to himself that he had probably made Yang Qiu's fault. Could there be ghosts and gods helping this old guy? Why can't he die?
During the interval between rounds, Zhang He decisively reined in his horse and ran away, shouting loudly: "Retreat, retreat quickly."
If you can't fight, just run away, Zhang He is still Zhang He.
In a battle outside Fuping City, the Wei army was killed to the death. In the end, Zhang He had less than a hundred riders left, and they continued northward to Lingzhou along the Yellow River.
The fallen Wei soldiers left nearly a thousand horses behind. Huang Zhong was reluctant to sacrifice such strength. He left two hundred men to gather the horses, and then followed the horse's hoof prints to pursue them to Lingzhou. Only when they arrived did they find out that Zhang He had finished plundering Lingzhou and ran away. .
The situation in Lingzhou was similar to that in Fuping. There were also only a few hundred households. Zhang He robbed some food and went north to the Great Wall, seeming to want to escape from the Gobi Desert to Bingzhou.
Although Huang Zhong was a little impatient, he didn't take the lead at the critical moment, so he decisively chose not to pursue him.
(End of chapter)
