Yuzhou, Liang State.
In late spring and early summer, there are many green wild grasses scattered on the wilderness, and many unknown trees growing in disorder.
Liang State in Yuzhou was originally a prosperous land in the Central Plains with dense rivers and flat and fertile land. After Emperor Wu of Jin destroyed Wu and unified the world, Liang State quickly recovered its vitality and became a famous county with a prosperous population and happy farming and commerce. .
However, after the back-and-forth melee between rebels, bandits, and barbarians in recent years, large areas of Liang's land were abandoned.
The piece of wasteland Liu Yu was standing on was close to a river with abundant water. In normal times of peace, the land near the river was generally fertile land that everyone longed for.
However, these lands close to rivers and easily irrigated have become wilderness.
Although there are overgrown mugworts and weeds, traces of the original crisscrossing roads can still be clearly seen.
"White bones are exposed in the wild, and there is no rooster crow for thousands of miles."
Seeing the desolate scene in front of him, and thinking of the dilapidated scenes he saw along the way after entering Yuzhou, Liu Yu couldn't help but read out a poem from Cao Cao's "Hao Li Xing".
At this time, a general from the Qingzhou Army came in a hurry, interrupting Liu Yu's melancholy.
"General, I have already gone to the front to check. This river is a whirlpool. From here, just 30 miles down the whirlpool, you will reach the city of Ku County, Liang Guo."
Cao Ni said, his face covered with hot sweat.
"Okay, since the front is Kucheng, it should not be far from the Xingtai army."
Liu Yu was very relieved about the geographical situation that Cao Yi went to investigate in person.
Back then, Cao Yi had followed Wang Mi to fight in Xuzhou, Yuzhou and other places. The Liang Kingdom had also been here several times. This time, he came with Liu Yu. After a little investigation, he knew the situation here.
In an era without satellites and navigation, experienced guides like Cao Ni were often more reliable than those "freehand" maps at that time for marches across long distances.
"General, do you need me to take some men and horses to search for some supplies nearby?"
Cao Yi looked at Liu Yu and asked in a tentative tone.
This time, the Qingzhou Army led by Liu Yu was divided into two armies, the front and rear. The front army was the two thousand Qingzhou cavalry led by Liu Yu himself, and the remaining infantry was the rear army.
Because they had to carry weapons, armor and other necessary items, the rations carried by the former army cavalry were not sufficient, barely enough for one or two days.
Therefore, the former army cavalry led by Liu Yu tried their best to eat along the way, that is, they obtained food from the Wubao and cities they passed along the way.
However, this time Liu Yu rejected Cao Yi's proposal.
"No need. Since this place is not far from Kucheng, the Xingtai army must not be far away. I guess that the Hulu who smelled the scent must be following closely. There are still some rations in the army, so save your energy for the time being and be good. Rest and recuperate, lest your hands and feet become weak again when encountering an enemy."
The reason why he rejected Cao Yi's proposal was because Liu Yu knew that this so-called "search for supplies" was not a simple search and search, but might be accompanied by violence and resistance, and the troops and horses dispatched would definitely not be able to do so. It will be too little, in which case it will take up a lot of time originally used for rest.
After knowing that he had entered Ku County, Liu Yu had an increasingly strong premonition that he would soon encounter the vicious Hulu again.
And all the troops Liu Yu has around him now are these two thousand cavalry. When he may face the enemy at any time, it is absolutely unwise to divide his troops hastily.
After all, after these cavalry were scattered, it would take a lot of time to gather them again.
Just relying on flags and drums to give orders often makes it very difficult to travel one or two miles away.
After hearing Liu Yu's order, Cao Yi immediately understood Liu Yu's intention and immediately accepted the order.
When Liu Yu returned to the simple military camp he had just set up, he saw another scout cavalry returning to investigate the news.
"General, we just met some people fleeing from the south of Liang Kingdom."
"Where are the people?" Liu Yu asked immediately. When these scouts set out, Liu Yu asked that anyone who met someone coming from the south must be carefully interrogated, especially those who seemed to know a lot. , and even brought it back for Liu Yu to personally interrogate.
"It has been brought back. The general can interrogate him at will!"
"Bring the people here and go quickly!" Liu Yu immediately ordered.
As they get closer and closer to the Jin court's army in Taiwan, any intelligence source they encounter may be of vital importance.
Soon, a dozen men in tattered clothes were brought over by Qingzhou Army scouts.
When he saw the clothes on these people, although they were tattered and dirty, Liu Yu could still tell that they were the military uniforms of the Jin army.
After meeting Liu Yu and learning that the fierce general in front of them was Liu Yu, the governor of Qingzhou who had defeated the Hulu many times, these Jin soldiers immediately burst into tears.
"General, tens of thousands of Chinese troops were overtaken by barbarians in Ninh Binh City. We were all killed and dispersed."
"General, the Hulu are already chasing us. Send troops quickly to rescue those brothers."
Under this situation, Liu Yu didn't even need to conduct any interrogations. No matter what he wanted to know or what he didn't want to know, these Jin soldiers who were on the verge of collapse all told them like they were pouring beans out of bamboo tubes.
At this time, Liu Yu knew that something almost like history repeating itself had happened in Ningping City.
Tens of thousands of light cavalry led by Huru Shile caught up with the 100,000-strong army at the Jin court. Not only did these 100,000-strong army have no morale, they even had no qualified generals who could command the battle. Even some bloody The Chinese army officers and soldiers wanted to save the crisis, but they were unable to do so.
The soldiers in front of Liu Yu were Hulu Shile's vanguard, who escaped when they crossed the Shah River to raid the Jin army's camp outside the city.
These people only knew that after Hulu Shile's cavalry crossed the river and charged, the Jin army outside Ningping City was defeated, and then trampled on each other among the rout troops pouring into the city gate. They, the Jin army trapped outside the city, were The soldiers had no choice but to scatter and flee.
"Sir, a hundred thousand people guarding a small Ningping City is impregnable," the nephew Liu Xun beside him sighed immediately after hearing the stories of these escapees.
"No, Ningping City is too small. Not to mention that the Xingtai armies are seriously short of food and grass. Just the gathering of 100,000 people in it will be a disaster. If Wang Yan, the commander-in-chief of the military department, really dares to besiege Ningping City, I am afraid there will be no need for help. If the captives attack, they will collapse on their own."
Liu Yu immediately explained to his nephew.
One hundred thousand people are crowded into a small Ningping city. Thinking about the food, drink and diarrhea of one hundred thousand people can almost collapse this small city.
"Send the order for all the generals of the battalions to come to me quickly."
Liu Yu immediately ordered.
Now that Hulu Shile had led his cavalry to catch up with Jin Tingxingtai in Ningping City, the Qingzhou Army's marching goal became immediately clear.
Originally, the positions of the Jin army marching to the platform and the Hulu troops were obscured in the fog of war. Now the Jin army marching to the platform and the Hu and Han cavalry clashed, just in time for Liu Yu's Qingzhou army to clear away the fog. The correct direction of march.
Liu Yu must let his generals know that at this time, given the fragile state of the Jin army, they may be defeated by the barbarians soon. In that case, Liu Yu will not be able to subdue these tens of thousands of Jin troops. In the end, Elite's plan will come to nothing.
Therefore, Liu Yu must mobilize his generals and rush to Ningping City before Hulu Shile's cavalry completely defeats the Jin court's Xingtai army.
Fortunately, at this time, Jin Tingxingtai had Ningping City to rely on for a day or two. It would not be like in history, where the entire army was defeated and trampled and killed as soon as they came into contact.
The journey of less than a hundred miles from Kucheng to Ningping City will determine the fate of the three parties!
·······
Yuzhou, Liang State, Ningping City.
In yesterday's night attack, the 3,000 elite soldiers that Taiwei Wang Yan, Xiangyang King Sima Fan and other Gongqing clan members managed to gather together were ambushed by Hulu cavalry. Many casualties escaped and there were not enough soldiers to retreat to Ningping City. Thousands of people.
Of course, not all of the soldiers who did not retreat to Ningping City were killed or captured by the Hulu cavalry. After all, it was night and many Jin soldiers could not escape back to the city and had to flee in all directions.
However, in today's chaotic world, these lone Jin soldiers were either found by the Hulu cavalry, or they were slowly dying in the wilderness where food and clothing were scarce.
After this battle, nearly a hundred officers, big and small, under Qian Qi, the general of Pinglu Zhonglang, were killed in the formation. The consequences of a failed attack quickly backfired on all the Jin troops in Xingtai.
The entire Jin army in Ningping City was panic-stricken. If they were defeated like this under the sneak attack of elite soldiers, wouldn't it be impossible to control the Hulu outside the city!
In Ningping City, in a simple house.
Pinglu General Qian Duan was leaning on a pile of coarse quilts.
As the main general who left the city for the night attack last night, Pinglu General Qian Duan became the scapegoat for the failure of this battle.
One of Pinglu general Qian Duan's legs was trampled off by a Hulu cavalry horse last night. If his subordinates Zhou Heng, Han Hun and others hadn't desperately carried him back to the city, I'm afraid Qian Duan's head would now be with his brother Qian. Like Qi, he was hung by Hu Lu on a wooden pole outside the city.
Even though Pinglu general Qian Duan was seriously injured, his brother was killed in the battle, and all his troops were killed, Taiwei Wang Yan, Xiangyang King Sima Fan and others still punished him. In the future, they will still think of using Jiangdong as an escape route. It is not as simple as removing Qian Duan as the commander-in-chief of the left army.
"General, people like Taiwei Wang are simply bullying others too much. They just don't provide compensation and comfort, but they actually add insult to injury like this!"
After learning that Qian Duan's post as governor had been removed, Qian Duan's men complained about him.
However, Qian Duan, who was weak and tortured by his leg injury, no longer had much energy to complain. In other words, after the defeat in this battle, Qian Duan secretly felt desperate. As for these positions of commander-in-chief of a certain army, they were all meaningless. .
"Now Ningping City is a dead place. If we can't rescue the siege or get rid of the Hulu pursuit, everyone will die. These people who are in charge of everything but not in charge, why do they need to care about it."
As soon as Pinglu General Qian Duan finished speaking, he felt a heartbreaking pain from his leg injury, causing a heavy cold sweat to break out on his head.
The several generals who were taking care of them all had expressions of concern on their faces, but now there are no doctors or doctors in Ningping City. Even if there are people who are proficient in medical skills, there are no medicinal materials available in Ningping City. .
Therefore, Qian Duan's leg injury could only be endured by gritting his teeth.
"General, what should we do?"
After hearing what Qian Duan said, one of his generals asked in a helpless voice.
There seemed to be a hint of crying in this voice.
However, no one present laughed.
After experiencing life and death last night, none of the people present were weak, and of course no one was afraid of dying in battle.
However, in this desperate environment, feeling the approach of death still made them feel waves of fear.
Hearing this, Pinglu General Qian Duan lowered his head and said nothing for a long time. Finally, he suddenly sighed.
"Now, I'm afraid there are only two ways. One is for divine soldiers to descend from the sky, and the other is for a brave general named Han Xin Bai Qi to appear in the military department and lead everyone to defeat the Hulu."
After hearing what Qian Duan said, Zhou Heng, the brigade commander of the Ya Army on the side, said in a relaxed tone.
"General, of these two methods, the most reliable one is the magic weapon descending from the sky."
As soon as Zhou Heng said this, everyone present laughed knowingly. Even Qian Duan, who was injured in the leg, laughed, but he didn't want to be involved in the injury, and Qian Duan grinned in pain. .
Everyone stopped laughing, and Han Hun among them suddenly spoke.
"If you ask me, the magic weapon descending from the sky that the general said may not happen."
"Previously, Liu Yu of the Qingzhou Army sent an envoy, saying that he had gone south from Yanzhou and came to Xingtai to take over the troops. According to time calculation, I am afraid that he will be able to get here in five or six days."
After hearing Han Hun's words, Zhou Heng rolled his eyes at him.
Zhou Heng never understood why Han Hun had so much confidence in Qingzhou Army Liu You.
"Just your daydreams. Yanzhou is five to six hundred miles away from here. When the Qingzhou army comes, everything will stop here."
After hearing Zhou Heng's words, Han Hun opened his mouth, but in the end he seemed to be discouraged and said no more words.
Just when everyone stopped talking and fell into a dead silence.
Suddenly, a subordinate of Pinglu General Qian Duan pushed open the door and rushed in.
As soon as he entered the door, he was so sad that he almost burst into tears.
"General, general, those damn barbarians are now piling up the heads of their dead brothers outside the city to watch in Beijing!"
As soon as this general's words came out, everyone present was immediately angered.
"What!"
"These damn Hulu, I'm going to kill them!"
At the same time, Taiwei Wang Yan's military department also learned the news.
"Jingguan? You are a Hulu traitor, you are just..." After hearing this, King Xiangyang Sima Fan immediately became furious and wanted to curse, but after thinking for a long time, he could not think of a suitable and vicious word.
"Hey! The Hulu have become so arrogant, Ningping City must not be defended any longer. Who knows if there will be more Hulu behind?"
After hearing this, Taiwei Wang Yan did not care about the "Beijing View" issue at all, but immediately persuaded everyone to accept his proposal again.
That is to say, abandon Ningping City and break through the encirclement and advance eastward while the entire army still has enough strength.
