As the elite troops of the Central Plains dynasty, these officials were inexplicably confident in defeating the pursuing Huru.
In the eyes of these nobles and dignitaries, the officers and men of the Chinese Army would risk their lives to protect these noble nobles, even if they had no military supplies, even if they were hungry, thirsty, exhausted, and even if their hearts were in panic, they would fight to the death to protect them. .
Taiwei Wang Yan was originally a person with few principles and no clear understanding of the situation. He just heard Liu Yu's envoy Ju Xian speaking with certainty that the wolves and tigers were chasing Hulu from behind. , so I wanted to discuss this matter with fear.
However, according to the words of a group of princes and princes, even if there are chasing Hulu cavalry, it is impossible to defeat tens of thousands of elite Chinese troops.
Therefore, Wang Yan now believes that the first so-called request for the army to enter the city and hold on to the city is completely a conspiracy to intimidate and block Liu Yu.
After Liu Yu's first request was simply rejected by all the officials and ministers, there was no need to discuss the remaining two conditions.
All the officials and ministers present were happy that they had seen through the conspiracy of the Qingzhou thief Liu Yu, and they were even more ridiculous for Liu Yu's stupidity.
A little thief in the late Han Dynasty actually despised these famous officials and celebrities.
"Where is the nearest city here?"
Although Wang Yan believed that this was Liu Yu's conspiracy, he still agreed with the idea of holding on to the city.
Today, all the officials and soldiers in Xingtai have traveled nearly a hundred miles, sleeping and eating in the open air along the way. It would be necessary if there was a city where they could stay for a day and a half.
Upon hearing Taiwei Wang Yan's inquiry, a man on the side immediately came forward.
"Reporting to Lieutenant Commander, the nearest city is Ningping City, which is twenty miles ahead."
"Ningping City?" Wang Yan, who claims to be familiar with the naming system of counties and counties all over the world, is a little unfamiliar with such a name.
"Yes, Taiwei, this Ningping City was originally a separate county. It was established since the Han Dynasty. However, since the chaos at the end of the Later Han Dynasty, the population of Ningping County has been exhausted. When our dynasty was founded, this Ningping City The county has already been withdrawn and merged into Ku County, leaving only Ningping City."
After the official finished speaking, he took out a map of Yuzhou and gave it to Taiwei Wang Yan and others.
"So it's here. Isn't it just on the bank of the Shah River in front?" Wang Yan was very satisfied with Ningping City after looking at it.
"Okay, in that case, let's go to Ningping City to rest for a day, and then head east at full speed to prevent the Qingzhou thieves from catching up with our army."
"Ningping City is indeed a good place."
Chapter 213
Yanzhou, Liangguo, Suiyang.
"Ningping City?"
"Haha, it is indeed a good place."
After joining the army and serving in Ju Xian's return, Liu Yu learned that Xingtai, headed by Taiwei Wang Yan and Xiangyang King Sima Fan, had rejected Liu Yu's request.
Not only that, the news brought back by Ju Xian also stated that after Taiwei Wang Yan and others learned that Liu Yu's Qingzhou Army was coming, they accelerated their journey and entered Ningping City to rest and defend, looking down upon Liu Yu's Qingzhou Army. As a formidable enemy.
Well, the Qingzhou Army is actually the enemy of these people.
However, Liu Yu's Qingzhou Army did not want to take their lives like Hu Han's Shi Le, but wanted to seize their power and status.
As a result, the Qingzhou Army was no less terrifying than Hu Han's Shi Le and Wang Mi.
"Qi Gong, it seems to me that all the ministers and princes in Taiwan are just wine bags and rice bags. From Xiangcheng to Ningping City, which is more than a hundred miles, they actually walked for more than ten days. They are so lazy. The army just leads a few elite troops to attack, take care of all the soldiers, and surrender immediately."
A man wearing a Qingzhou soldier's uniform said.
The person who said this was none other than Ran Long, one of the commanders of the Qingzhou Army Cavalry and the former general of the Beggar Army.
It turned out that when Liu Yu sent Ju Xian as an envoy to recruit Taiwei Wang Yan and others to submit to Xingtaizhong, he did not just send Ju Xian alone. Among the cavalry accompanying him, there were cavalrymen dressed as ordinary soldiers. Military general Ran Long.
"It took more than ten days to travel a hundred miles?" Liu Yu was also surprised when he heard the marching speed of the large troops in Xingtai.
You know, even an ordinary infantry march can cover twenty or thirty miles in a day if it is very safe and cautious.
"Yes, Duke Qi, when Ju Shenjun was negotiating with Taiwei Wang Yan and others, I got the news from the soldiers in his army."
Obviously, when the Jin court marched to Taiwan, Ran Long did not forget his mission.
"The marching speed is so slow, aren't we afraid that Hulu bandits will chase us?"
This kind of marching speed made Liu Yu feel that it was simply God's will, just to let Hu Hanshile's cavalry pursue him.
"The army marching to Taiwan was already short of food, and they had to collect food and grass wherever they went. It was okay at the beginning, as I saw the official Xingtai minister from the imperial court, and the Wubao and villages along the way also took the initiative to donate food and grass. "
"However, the army at Xingtai consisted of a hundred thousand people. When the vanguard officials and troops passed by, these people donated some food, grass and silk. However, when the subsequent officials and sergeants passed by, they also asked for food and grass. , in this case, how can these forts and villages be willing to listen?"
"So, since we left Xiangcheng, in this short journey of more than a hundred miles, countless villagers have been robbed by these soldiers."
"How can we move so fast just by living where we live? Most of the day will be spent on these things."
In one breath, Ran Long told what he knew about the reasons why the officials and the army were so slow.
After Liu Yu heard these reasons, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart. I am afraid that these people in the Central Plains have been plundered by these hungry and cold Chinese soldiers before they even saw the faces of the Hulu.
However, in this matter, we cannot blame these Chinese soldiers who are on the verge of despair. These tens of thousands of soldiers are not noble class fighters, but just ordinary people.
How can you take care of the lives of others when your own situation is in danger, even if these people are the same Central Plains people.
"Anyone who commits unjust acts will be punished by his own death. I estimate that it will be difficult for these officials in Xingtai to escape from the disaster in Ningping City."
Liu Yu felt helpless in his heart.
In fact, these ministers in Taiwan did not clearly realize the dangers they faced. They thought that the Chinese army was still as strong as in the past, and they were not at all vigilant about the dangers they might face.
Liu Yu himself knew that based on the reports of the rangers who were scouting far ahead, as well as his own guesses about the historical process, he concluded that if Shi Le pursued hundreds of officials and soldiers in Xingtai, they would probably catch up in the Ningping City area.
As far as the marching speed of the officials and soldiers at Xingtai is concerned, even if the error is one or two days, the distance is only twenty or thirty miles.
"Oh, that's bad. Now our army is here in Suiyang City, which is nearly 200 miles away from Ningping City. If our army reaches Ningping City, it will take several days." Ju Xian, who joined the army on the side said.
Although Ju Xian's military title was just an ordinary official position assigned to many powerful men by Liu Yu, Ju Xian still knew the basic common sense of marching.
"Yes, Mr. Qi, it will take several days for our army to arrive at Ningping City. By then, with the current situation of the Central Army in Taiwan, they will be tortured by barbarians. I am afraid it will be just like what Mr. Qi guessed. In that case, 100,000 people would be wiped out." Ran Long was also anxious.
Liu Yu also thought of these early.
Most of the Qingzhou Army is infantry, and this time the two thousand cavalry have almost all their belongings.
However, in terms of marching speed, the Qingzhou cavalry must advance at the same speed as the infantry. Otherwise, if the cavalry ignores horse power and rushes with all their strength, they will travel faster than the infantry in a short period of time, but the horses will seriously consume their horse power. When it is really needed When fighting, it is very likely that there is not enough strength savings, which is not conducive to encounters.
However, at a distance of two hundred miles, if the traveling speed is appropriate, the consumption of the cavalry can still be controlled within an acceptable range. In this way, it can not only ensure a fast enough traveling speed, but also have the horsepower to cope with the situation. battle.
It is a pity that the cavalry of the Qingzhou Army can be so reckless and attack with force, but it is difficult for the remaining main infantry to complete the two hundred miles of forced march in the same time.
The army marched for two hundred miles regardless of day and night, and then continued to engage in battles where the enemy's situation was unknown. The combat effectiveness of such an army can be described as terrifying.
From ancient times to the present, infantrymen who can do this are all the best among the best, and can even be said to be rare in a century.
Liu Yu really wanted his Qingzhou Army infantry to be so powerful, but unfortunately, Liu Yu knew that although these Qingzhou Army infantry could be called soldiers who dared to fight, it would be difficult for them to be so powerful.
In this way, if Liu Yu wants to reach Kuxian quickly day and night, he must abandon the infantry and lead the cavalry first. However, the number of Qingzhou cavalry is only two thousand, and if he is to advance lightly, Liu Yu prepared for the Qingzhou cavalry. Horse gear, which Liu Yu was proud of, could not be achieved.
These cavalrymen are very heavy, and the Qingzhou cavalry is one man and one horse. It is impossible for the Qingzhou cavalry to wear armor and march two hundred miles quickly. In that case, the people may have nothing to do, but the mounts will be tired. died.
Therefore, in ordinary marches, these cavalry horses and armors are carried by infantry.
This abandons the infantry and leads the two thousand cavalry first. Without the strong support of the Qingzhou infantry, they will face many possible dangers.
However, based on the speed of the Qingzhou infantry, it is very likely that the 100,000 people in Xingtai would be killed by the pursuing Hulu Shile before they saw the hundreds of officials and Chinese soldiers.
After all, in the historical disaster of Ninh Binh City, these 100,000 Xingtai officials and soldiers did not even have to resist for a day, and they were all killed by the sword.
Liu Yu traveled hundreds of miles and came all the way from Qingzhou, not to collect the corpses of these 100,000 people, but to recruit these precious elites from these 100,000 people.
For a moment, Liu Yu was caught in a dilemma. Apart from a rough guess about the key Hulu Shile's movements, he was completely in the dark.
Regarding the unknown enemy situation, Liu Yu also had a hard time making a choice.
He walked out of the main hall of Liang Guoshi's residence in Suiyang and came to the courtyard.
At this time, it was already dark, there was no moon in the sky, only countless stars twinkling in the dark night sky.
Liu Yu looked up, and intense mental weighing made him feel mysterious about the stars in the sky.
"No wonder, many people in later generations said that marching and combat is a metaphysics. In the current situation, I actually know nothing about Hulu Shile's movements, and I only have an impression in my memory."
"What if, if I advance lightly and encounter a large number of Shi Le's cavalry, wouldn't I be buried with 100,000 people in Xingtai?"
"However, if I cannot arrive in time, most of the demoralized soldiers will still be killed, and then the largest Han armed group in the northern Central Plains will be completely destroyed. From then on, whether it is the Qingzhou Army or not, , or Wang Jun’s Youzhou Army, it will be difficult to reassemble such a large-scale elite army."
"Perhaps, if I lead the Qingzhou infantry and cavalry to advance simultaneously, I will not miss the time for Shi Le's attack. In this case, I can maintain the Qingzhou Army's maximum strength and avoid taking risks. But in this way, the final outcome will be The initiative depends entirely on Shi Le's face, and the speed of Shi Le's own march becomes the key."
These complicated thoughts went back and forth in Liu Yu's mind, making him constantly weigh and speculate between risk and caution, failure and victory.
Under the tremendous pressure to make a decision, Liu Yu almost had the urge to make a decision through divination.
···········
Yuzhou, Runan State, Xiping County.
At this time, Xiping County was already the territory of Wang Mi, the general of Hu Han's expedition to the east.
After more than a month of marching westward, Wang Mi once again led his Hu-Han infantry and cavalry back to Xiping County.
Previously, after Wang Mi learned that there was a famine among Gou Xi's refugee army occupying the Nanyang area, which caused people's unrest, Wang Mi, who had long coveted the Guanzhong refugees entrenched in the Nanyang area, immediately led his tens of thousands of Hu and Han troops to attack Liu Zan, the "Han" emperor who occupied the northern part of Jingzhou, launched an attack.
Unfortunately, the result of this hasty war was far beyond Wang Mi's expectation.
After receiving the support of the rebellious refugee commander Yan Yi and others, Wang Mi felt that he could easily eliminate the forces of the disengaged Han general Gou Xi, and then he could invade Jingzhou and capture all of Jingzhou and Jiangzhou. At that time, It can replicate the great deeds of the shipowner Wang Junlou who destroyed the Sun Wu Kingdom.
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