Chapter 149 How could the Han cavalry be so brave?

Unlike the areas east of Taihang Mountain, the main crops grown in Taiyuan County, Pingyang County, Hedong County and other places are drought-resistant millet, which usually matures in September and October.

The winter wheat grown in the counties of the Central Plains can usually be harvested in late June.

The two months in between can be used to make up for the time difference.

Once the harvest is completed, the intensity of farm work is greatly reduced. Both the rebel soldiers and the Jin army's soldiers no longer have to be tied to the fields all day long. They can gather together for training or to go out into the field.

After taking Pingyang, Taiyuan and other places, you can attack Hedong, Hongnong, Hanoi, Luoyang and other places to the south, or you can attack to the north and east.

To the north is the Tuoba Xianbei, the largest force in terms of horse ownership today. To the west are the Qiang Hu, Di people and other Hu people who have been highly sinicized. After conquering them, we can quickly form a field army.

"Then we will raise an army in ten days, and the rebel army will attack Taiyuan, Shangdang, Pingyang and other places."

At this time, Shangdang was divided into Jianxing County, Yining County and other places, and many Southern Xiongnu who had completed sinicization were also distributed in this basin.

Li Ju was overjoyed, "May I ask, big brother, how many troops are you sending?"

After successively occupying populous counties such as the central and northern parts of Zhao State and Changshan County, the number of soldiers in the rebel army increased significantly, and there were already thousands of soldiers who could be deployed to fight across counties.

"There are at least a thousand elite soldiers in armor."

General Li planned to take 800 infantrymen, 200 cavalrymen, and 500 auxiliary troops to Pingyang County to open up new territory.

"Isn't this too reckless? There are at least more than 10,000 Jin troops in Taiyuan, Pingyang and other places, not to mention Liu Yuan's Xiongnu troops."

After blinking his eyes, Li Ju finally confirmed that the general in front of him only wanted to send out a thousand troops.

"The soldiers of the Southern Xiongnu are equal to the soldiers of the righteous army. When we arrive in Pingyang, I will lead the army to kill the leaders of the five Southern Xiongnu tribes. If there are any Southern Xiongnu who dare not obey, we will kill the men and keep the women. My second brother will win the hearts of the people. After we capture various cities, we will quickly set up government offices, appoint officials, and recruit clerks."

The five tribes of the Southern Xiongnu were in a very awkward situation at this time. Most of them had been assimilated into the Han culture and could farm the land just like the Han people, but they were still rejected by the Han people.

This is a very good source of soldiers for the rebels.

Li Ju was helpless, but when he thought about it, with the general around, these one thousand elite soldiers probably only needed to command the surrendered Jin army.

Maybe by then they will have to worry about having too many prisoners.

After all, every additional prisoner means one more mouth to feed.

After agreeing on the strategy of attacking Taiyuan, Pingyang and other places, Li Hao immediately made small-scale adjustments to the deployment of the rebel army.

Li Lian, who nominally had a higher status, was stationed in Bairen County. Nearly two thousand soldiers were guarding the county. Their main responsibility was to protect the armor-making blacksmiths under the jurisdiction of the Yuhengsi.

Li Xiang, Li Yu, Lu Rong and five hundred other commanders each led their troops to garrison a county town in Changshan County to guard against attacks from the Jin army in the east and north.

Jingxing County is considered the base camp. The general's mansion, most of the craftsmen and soldiers are all there. It is temporarily under the jurisdiction of Li Ju. After Li Hao conquers Pingyang, Taiyuan and other places, Li Ju will be transferred here to garrison.

"If the Yecheng troops march north in large numbers, what should Third Brother do?"

When handing over to Li Lian who was heading south to Bairen County, General Li specifically asked this question.

"I will take my brothers and the people who followed the righteous army and flee to Jingxing Pass. Anyway, our food reserves are in Leping County. If we defend Jingxing Pass to the death, we will not be afraid even if 100,000 Jin troops come."

Li Lian was full of confidence and felt that this was exactly the answer his elder brother wanted to hear.

"You should send Li Dai to Bingzhou, Pingyang and other places as quickly as possible to call me back for help. This is the most important thing."

General Li gave him some instructions so that he wouldn't forget about it.

Dark-faced Li Lian patted his chest, signaling the general to rest assured that he could still do such a small matter as sending someone to report the news.

After roughly settling the rebel army's territory, Li Hao led a thousand carefully selected armored soldiers and five hundred auxiliary soldiers from Leping County into Shouyang County, bypassing strong cities such as Jinyang, and arrived at Pingyang County along the Taiyuan Basin.

Of course, they encountered many Jin army passes on the way. Some of the passes were heavily guarded, and General Li had to climb the ladder to the top of the city wall himself before he could persuade the Jin soldiers to open the pass gates.

As a result, the team added three or four hundred surrendered soldiers.

……

Pingyang County, west of Fen.

This place is located at the southern foot of Luliang Mountain and is named after its location west of Fen River. The terrain is mainly hills, loess ruins and gullies.

It was autumn, the wind was howling, and the sky was dark, which made Liu Yuan and others who were marching northward very depressed.

The gloomy sky seemed to hint at their future.

The military information that thousands of Li's bandits appeared in Pingyang County had been passed on to him, the commander-in-chief of the Five Tribes, a few days ago. Wang Jun, the commander-in-chief of Bingzhou, hid in Jinyang City and refused to come out. He only forced Liu's Xiongnu soldiers to advance north to Fenxi area to resist the invasion of the bandits.

"Father, do we really have to go to war with the bandits? The King of Zhao and the King of Chengdu have not given us armor or weapons. With only the swords and spears given by Pingyang County, we will never be able to defeat the bandits."

The person who spoke was Liu He, the eldest son of Liu Yuan. He had a square face, thick eyebrows and big eyes. He looked quite majestic and resolute, and seemed to have great bearing.

But Liu Yuan knew very well that his son was a fool, jealous inside and generous outside, very suspicious, and had few long-term plans.

"We still have 800 cavalry and 3,000 infantry. We'll see what the situation is like after the enemy troops arrive."

Liu Yuan only had some feelings for Sima Ying, the King of Chengdu. He had served as a military officer and a cavalry captain in the palace of Chengdu.

The Southern Xiongnu leader had no intention of working for the other Sima clan kings, especially Sima Lun who was about to die of old age.

At present, Li's rebel army has crossed the county and occupied Lianzhou, and Sima Lun and the other Sima kings have become estranged from each other because of the issue of suppressing the rebellion, and Sima Ying's position as General Pingbei has also been removed.

Liu Yuan therefore speculated that the two sides might fall out and attack each other in the near future.

He did not want to waste military forces on suppressing the rebellion, but the central army in Luoyang was still there, and the military households in Yecheng, Xuchang and other places had not been disbanded. The five tribes of Southern Xiongnu still had to accept the dispatch of the Jin court on the surface.

The Luoyang Central Army could not defeat the general of Li’s righteous army, but it could easily deal with the five Southern Xiongnu tribes.

Surrendering to the rebels was the most hopeless move. As long as his soldiers could fight the rebels to a draw, he would not choose this path.

Liu Yuan's fourth son Liu Cong came to his father and said, "Why don't we join the Li family's rebel army? Father and General Li will attack from the south and east, capture Taiyuan County, Pingyang County and other places, and then join forces to occupy Hedong County, and then call on the Qiang, Hu and Di people to revolt and see how the Sima family responds."

Liu Yuan waved his hand and asked his son to go aside.

Only when he is completely unable to defeat Li's rebel army can he talk about surrender. Now it seems that there is still hope. If he surrenders just because of the enemy's reputation, Liu Yuan will lose all his face if the news gets out.

"Liu Cong is right. Surrender is also a way out. Song Zhou of Pingyang County is in favor of Sima Lun, and Wang Jun is Sima Lun's confidant. If we can't connect with the King of Chengdu in Yecheng, won't we be surrounded by enemies on all sides?"

The old man who was speaking was Liu Yuan's uncle Liu Xuan, now the Left Wise King. Although he looked very old, he was actually still energetic and could ride a horse and march with the army.

Liu Yuan repeatedly considered the various suggestions from his son and relatives. The current situation was indeed unfavorable to the five Huns.

The Southern Xiongnu leader wanted to go to Shangdang in the east to gather his subordinates and manage his territory, but it was too late now.

If he did not send troops to attack Li's rebel army at this time, I am afraid that Pingyang Prefect Song Zhou would send troops to conquer the five Huns first.

Liu Yuan sighed, his life was like walking on thin ice. In the afternoon, the scouts ahead found that Li's righteous army was heading south, and the Southern Xiongnu armed forces immediately stopped, some putting on armor and some forming battle array.

The infantry were lined up on a hill, with the cavalry slightly lower. Liu Yuan's troops waited for a while and finally arrived at the equally well-dressed Li's rebel army.

"The righteous army is so majestic!"

Looking at the thousands of soldiers holding halberds and armor, Liu Yuan couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

He also knew about military affairs. Apart from the auxiliary troops, almost everyone in the opposing Li's rebel army had protective gear such as shoulder pads, skirt armor, and basin collars. There were also many cavalrymen holding long spears. The most elite Luoyang Central Army was no more capable than this.

"Father, I am willing to lead 500 cavalrymen to fight!"

The eldest son Liu He was the first to volunteer to fight.

"Five hundred are too many. The Li family's army only has more than three hundred horses, and their cavalry is at most three hundred. I will give you three hundred too. You can act according to circumstances."

Liu Yuan only had 800 cavalrymen at the time, and he didn't want his eldest son to take all of them away, so he only gave him 300 people.

"I will not let my father down!"

Liu He saluted with his fists, waved his cloak gracefully, and turned to leave.

Soon, three hundred horse archers slowly went out into battle, divided into three teams according to their centurions, and arranged in front and back.

The Li family's cavalry on the opposite side also slowly pressed forward. When they were two or three hundred steps away, the leading one hundred cavalry began to accelerate.

"The first team attacks forward and seizes the enemy's right!"

After the commander Liu He gave the first order, the first 100-man cavalry team of the Southern Xiongnu began to accelerate their horses, but they did not charge directly towards the enemy. Instead, they made a big circle and attacked in a roundabout way.

This is a very serious archer attack strategy.

Even for the cavalrymen who came from the Southern Xiongnu, most of the soldiers could only hold the bow with their left hand and pull the string with their right hand, which gave rise to three types of riding and archery postures: parted sideburns, facing stirrups, and wiping the swing.

They correspond to shooting at the left front, shooting at the left side, and shooting at the left rear.

Therefore, the right side of the horse archers is a blind spot for attack.

"The second team follows up and seizes the enemy's left!"

After the first team successfully made a detour, Liu He issued the second order.

After being overtaken on the right, the rebel cavalry would either go directly to the front of the leading team and attack with their ring-handled swords, or turn their horses around and go back to fight for the right side with the leading team of the Southern Xiongnu.

No matter how the first wave of rebel cavalry dealt with it, there was always a flaw.

Liu Yuan and others were quite satisfied with Liu He's response. This was the only way to fight against hundreds of cavalry archers.

At this time, in the center of the battlefield, the first wave of rebel cavalry was charging normally. They did not stop to engage in close combat with the first group of Southern Xiongnu cavalry that was rushing to the right, nor did they turn their horses around to continue rushing to the right.

Greeting the first group of Southern Xiongnu were the remaining rebel cavalry, totaling about one hundred people.

"Team three will follow and seize the right side of the enemy's rear!"

Liu He issued an order, and the flag bearers around him waved the small flags in their hands one after another, and the third century-man team finally began to charge forward.

Liu He, the commander, was also in Team 3. His team had a fairly easy mission; they only had to detour to the right side of the second wave of rebel cavalry and control the situation.

If Li's rebel army also had normal archers, the battlefield situation would be quite unfavorable to the rebel cavalry.

Liu Yuan, Liu Xuan and others also thought so at first, but when the second wave of cavalry of the rebel army rushed directly in front of the first team of Southern Xiongnu on the right, Liu Yuan's face changed immediately.

Obviously, the cavalry on the opposite side had undergone special training and could charge forward despite the arrows. They did not stop even after breaking into the army formation, and quickly broke away from the first team of the Southern Xiongnu and continued to fight against the third team of the Southern Xiongnu.

What shocked Liu Yuan and others even more was that in just one battle, more than thirty of their own cavalrymen were killed in the first team.

"How could the Han cavalry be so brave!"

Liu Yuan was heartbroken. The cavalrymen were extremely valuable, and so many of them died in one battle. This was more painful than asking him to surrender to Li's rebel army.

"See, what I said before, surrender is the right thing to do."

The fourth son, Liu Cong, still advocated surrendering to Li's rebel army. He believed that it was not shameful if he could not win, but it would be a problem if he still tried to fight when he knew he could not win.

The first wave of rebel cavalry also collided with the Southern Xiongnu's second team. This time the casualties were even more tragic. The leader of the rebel cavalry was holding a long spear, and with one spear he could take out a cavalryman from the Five Divisions who were fighting back with knives.

Liu Yuan looked carefully and found that the man's halberd had two edges. Every time he attacked, his heart would jump inexplicably.

It seemed that the halberd blade was about to fall on him.

"I think this man must be the general of the rebel army. Why don't we call for a retreat and surrender?"

Liu Xuan earnestly advised his nephew's grandson.

"I'm afraid it's too late. The herald will sound the horn to call back the troops, and the men will dismount and surrender."

After Liu Yuan gave the order, he sent people to the center of the battlefield where a fierce battle was taking place, and loudly called on the five tribes of Southern Xiongnu to surrender.

Of course, he and his close followers were sitting on their horses. If the situation was not right, they would rather abandon the three thousand infantrymen and run away.

After the sound of the golden gong spread far away, the Southern Xiongnu cavalry began to withdraw from the battle with the rebel cavalry. Li Hao, who was in the mood for killing, heard that the Liu Xiongnu had surrendered like this. Although he was reluctant, he still ordered the rebel cavalry to stop pursuing them.

"Let old Liu Yuan take off his armor and see me!"

General Li, holding a halberd in his right hand and reins in his left hand, rode his horse across the front of the two armies and ordered the surrendered leader of the Southern Xiongnu to come out and meet him in person.

Liu Yuan had no choice but to take off his helmet, cover his armor under his robe, walk out of the army formation and start discussing surrender with the general of the rebel army.

"All the Southern Xiongnu soldiers under your command must be dispersed and mixed into the rebel army. I will give you an infantry lieutenant, responsible for recruiting able-bodied men from the five tribes of the Southern Xiongnu. If you refuse, our two families will fight again."

The conditions given by Li Hao were quite harsh, which meant that Liu Yuan and others almost lost their military power and could not even become military leaders.

"General, can you allow me to discuss this with my staff for a moment?"

Liu Yuan, with a bitter face, wanted to lead his troops to escape, but he didn't know where to escape to.

The rebel cavalry is right before our eyes.

"That's right!"

After obtaining permission from the opposing general, Liu Yuan consulted with Liu Xuan and other older generation clansmen for a while, and the bottom line they reached was to retain the military power of the cavalry.

General Li wanted to use his banner to recruit soldiers from the Southern Xiongnu, and he shouted sternly: "It is a gift to give you the title of infantry lieutenant. If you don't lead your troops to surrender, you will be chopped down!"

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(End of this chapter)