Xia Houcheng's partial army also had some war horses, but not many. In order to capture this small tribe of Hu people, all the war horses were brought along.
The group of people rushed towards the back of the mountain in the northwest of Yangqu.
In order not to alarm the Hu tribe, Xia Houcheng and others did not run at full speed and tried not to stir up a lot of smoke and dust to reveal their traces.
However, when Xia Houcheng and others were still a short distance away from the Hu tribe, they still inevitably alarmed the Hu tribe. They saw a group of Hu tribes rushing out of tents and several tile-roofed houses in a mess, and then
Some of the barbarians fled towards the mountains carrying their burdens, while others were driving the horses, cattle and sheep, as if they were preparing to take the horses, cattle and sheep away with them.
Because the Hu people rarely use saddles, when they start to move, they start running in a blink of an eye. However, the Hu people also have to carry cattle and sheep that are slower than horses, so the moving speed is not fast.
Just run forward.
"Quick! Quick! Surround us!" Xia Houcheng shouted, "Don't let these bastards get away!"
In the era of the Han Dynasty, when the Han army faced the Hu people, they were very strong-willed. Even though the Han army has declined now, when the Han army saw the Hu people, their knees would not weaken most of the time.
"Split up! Wang Tiansheng! Bring people to catch those who escaped!" Xiahou Cheng yelled, and asked his men to lead the infantry to catch the barbarians who were trying to escape into the mountains, while he himself led the cavalry to surround those on horseback.
of.
Wang Tiansheng of Cao Jun's military academy responded, then waved to the infantry and chased him in the other direction.
"After capturing these barbarians and having food, Yangqu County can probably be captured!"
"This damn weather, let's get rid of it as soon as possible!"
"Hey, how can these bastards run so fast?"
The morale of Cao's soldiers was very good, and they were talking while chasing the barbarians running up the mountain. However, as they chased them, they felt something was wrong.
"That's wrong..." Wang Tiansheng held on to a tree trunk and gasped, "Why are these barbarians running so fast?"
"Yes, it was right in front of you, why did it disappear? Logically speaking, it's time to catch up now..." Cao Jun's soldiers were also confused.
Suddenly, a soldier from Cao's army shouted, "There is a stronghold ahead!"
"Copycat?" Wang Tiansheng was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized, "No wonder you are running here!"
After climbing over the folded mountain ridge, which is not very high, we saw a small village on the mountainside platform.
In the cottage, figures were shaking.
The cottage is not big. It is surrounded by reclaimed dry fields, all around the cottage.
The crops in the dry fields have been harvested long ago, and there are some poles left piled here and there beside the village.
"Aha!" Wang Tiansheng laughed, "Thank you to these bastards for leading the way! Otherwise, you wouldn't have known there was a cottage hidden here! Haha, we have done a great job! Hurry! Hurry! Surround us, don't let these bastards escape.
Got it!』
No one suspected it was a trap.
Because they have "successfully" arrested many villagers and farmers more than once.
In most cases, even if these villagers and farmers are more powerful than soldiers, they can't use it. They can only howl and run away, just like chasing a herd of sheep, so what's the danger?
Humans are all animalistic, and chasing prey will unknowingly stimulate people's emotions, making people gradually become excited.
Cao Jun shouted and rushed into the stronghold without even glancing at the terrain around the stronghold.
However, after rushing into the stronghold, Cao Jun's soldiers were a little dumbfounded.
"Where are the people?"
"I just saw..."
"Where have you hidden everything?"
Military Academy Wang Tiansheng looked around hesitantly, and suddenly he seemed to smell something. He subconsciously walked to the edge of a wooden house, reached out and touched the outer wall, "This... kerosene?! It should... damn!"
There is an ambush..."
A copper whistle sounded in the distance, and then the flaming arrows drew a mysterious arc high in the sky, fell into the village, and immediately ignited the wooden houses and thatched roofs...
…
…
Above Yangqu County, Chen Lan looked at the black smoke coming out of the mountains in the distance, clenched his fist and waved, "They succeeded!"
Master Xu was puzzled, "They, who are they?"
Chen Lan turned to look at Master Xu and said with some meaning, "They are the Hu people, the people of Baishi Qiang... Their leader is called Lina Gu, and he and his lord have been doing business very early..."
"Bai Shiqiang..." Chief Xu was a little stunned, but also a little confused, "That's it? They..."
Chen Lan nodded and said: "That's it, go to them and explain clearly... It's not difficult... The difficult thing is to believe them, and they will be worthy of trust... If you don't believe them, they will naturally not believe you."
...Don't worry, I didn't let anyone say that I missed them, but that I had to entrust them with important tasks..."
"You...you told them, what did they say?" Chief Xu asked.
Chen Lan smiled and said: "We just negotiated a business... Bai Shiqiang is also a businessman..."
Director Xu was a little dazed, "Business? How could they... how could they agree? You mean, you... hire them?"
"This is not a new thing, right?" Chen Lan said, "Early on, they were like the Southern Huns, accepting employment from the Han... It's the same now."
"No...this...isn't..." Master Xu felt a little confused, "But how could they defeat Cao Jun?"
"In addition to kerosene, I also asked people to bring some Five Elements Thunder... Of course only our people can use it... And the quantity is not large, but this way the Baishi Qiang people will have enough courage... And I also
They were not asked to fight Cao Jun head-on... It is not difficult to lure and ambush..." Chen Lan nodded, and walked under the city wall as he spoke, "Besides, we will pay for the damage, and what we earn will go to them.
, and there is a bounty... You will find that their courage is beyond your imagination... Okay, now I am going to earn the merit we should earn..."
"What are you going to do?" Master Xu asked anxiously following Chen Lan.
Chen Lan ordered the soldiers to be summoned, and then while putting on his armor, he explained to Master Xu: "The number of Cao's troops who attacked the city yesterday was not large... and most of the people they captured were lost... Today, Cao's army is very strong."
They may go to the surrounding areas to capture civilians again... so they are likely to encounter Bai Shiqiang... Now that Bai Shiqiang has done it, we have to do something... Otherwise, we won't be able to do anything when Cao Jun's follow-up troops catch up.
Already..."
"You, what are you..." Master Xu's eyes widened in surprise. He was a little worried, but seeing Chen Lan's firm expression, he turned to look at the black smoke floating on the mountain. He hesitated, not knowing whether he was...
Should you agree or disagree?
"Don't worry," Chen Lan took the bag and brought it up and said, "I took a closer look yesterday. The armor of those Cao soldiers is not significantly different from ours... It's even worse than ours... That's it.
There is a big difference between the shirt and the banner...』
Before they fell out, they were all soldiers of the Han Dynasty. What fundamental difference could there be?
Many generals and military academies of Cao Jun still use armor sold by Guanzhong Gongfang, plus Jinyang...
Master Xu was silent for a while, "Your Majesty... you must never be greedy for success and love war..."
Chen Lan nodded in agreement. He could hold a knife, but that didn't mean he had high martial arts.
Men born in the North have basic skills in wielding knives and guns, but not many can do it well. Just like every household can cook every day, not many can really cook to a level that will make the world weep and ghosts sparkle.
Chen Lan sent someone overnight to bring some kerosene to the Baishi Qiang people. In the winter when there was no rain or snow, those wooden villages were undoubtedly huge fire pits that could be lit at any time.
Chen Lan originally didn't want to take risks, but Chief Xu's behavior of treating Han and Hu people differently forced Chen Lan to take remedial measures. However, it was obviously too late to let these Baishi Qiang people take refuge in Yangqu.
Why not create some opportunities...
If Chen Lan could have known about Cao Jun's tactics earlier and what Chief Xu was doing, he might have been able to set up an ambush to attack Cao Jun, or he could have informed the barbarians earlier, then six or seven hundred people might not have died yesterday.
Perhaps it was precisely because Chen Lan did not leave the city for a sneak attack last night that Cao Jun relaxed his vigilance now. Perhaps it was precisely because the six or seven hundred people who had been killed before were already dead and injured, so Cao Jun had to look for villages farther away.
Meeting Bai Shiqiang...
In short, Chen Lan is not a person with a top IQ. If he could have anticipated some things in advance and made some preparations, the effect would not be better. He just has the experience of being a civilizer and knows how to communicate with barbarians better.
It is effective and can treat Hu and Han people more equally.
That's it, but it's enough.
…
…
Wang Tiansheng felt that he was extremely unlucky today.
At the beginning, I just felt that Xia Houcheng assigned everything to himself. He worked hard all day to attack the city, and had to defend the camp at night. Now he had to go up the mountain to capture the enemy, and then he unexpectedly encountered an ambush!
"Withdraw! Withdraw quickly!"
The fire started quickly.
The Baishi Qiang people had basically integrated with the Han people as early as the period of the Second Emperor Huanling. They no longer moved around much in search of pasture. Herding was their custom rather than their daily needs. They also learned farming and planted crops like the Han people. Perhaps
In a few decades or hundreds of years, Baishi Qiang will gradually turn into Baishi Village, Stone Township...
In this small village, there were a lot of dead branches and dry firewood piled up. They were originally prepared to keep out the cold in the winter. Now they were doused with kerosene. As soon as the rocket fell, a raging fire broke out.
Cao's soldiers, who were rummaging through the village for belongings and looking for an exit, were suddenly surrounded by fire.
Wang Tiansheng quickly led a few people and rushed outside the village.
"Whizzing!"
Arrows roared towards them, forcing Wang Tiansheng and the others back.
"There is an ambush at the gate of the village! Come to me and rush out together!" Wang Tiansheng shouted, "Put on your shield! Put your shield on the front! Quick, quick!"
The fire gradually burned the surroundings, and the flames quickly devoured everything. They danced unscrupulously, grabbing the soldiers of Cao's army who were running around with their heads in their hands, and warmly invited them to dance together.
"Ah...I've been shot..." A soldier of Cao's army groaned, "I've been shot...hiss...it hurts...help me...help me..."
Wang Tiansheng turned his head and saw a Cao Jun soldier lying half on the ground. He was hit by an arrow in the thigh and was bleeding profusely.
"Damn! Can you still leave?" Wang Tiansheng shouted, "Give him the spear! Hold it yourself!"
Then he turned around and shouted to the injured soldier, "We can't save you here! There is an ambush ahead, we have to fight it out first! You have to rush out with us! Otherwise, you will be burned to death here! Understand."
No?!"
Wang Tiansheng did not ask anyone to help or carry the wounded soldiers. This was because he did not know how many ambushes were at the gate of Xiaozhai. It was not a rational choice to lose one, or even two or three, combat effectiveness for a wounded soldier.
Cao Jun's soldiers gathered most of their combat power in the shortest time, with their shields in front. The archers shot arrows randomly in the direction of the arrows outside the village gate, trying to suppress the opponent and then take the opportunity to rush out.
.
"Quick! Charge forward!" Wang Tiansheng shouted, leading Cao's soldiers to charge out.
Wang Tiansheng kept an eye out and walked in the middle of the team.
Some soldiers of Cao's army were contaminated by the flames when they passed the burning gate of the village. Their uniforms were immediately burned, and they screamed and beat. Others were burned by the flames, their hair and face were burned, and they rolled around on the ground screaming.
The arrows whistled, not much, but the accuracy was pretty good.
Cao Jun's soldiers were hit by arrows while running, and fell to the ground with a chirp, groaning, or screaming.
Wang Tiansheng was filled with hatred and decided to kill all the ambush soldiers after rushing out of here. However, when he stepped on the corpses of Sergeant Cao's soldiers and finally rushed out of the sea of fire and escaped from the village, he saw several people on the opposite side turning slightly sideways.
, throwing something with white smoke over like throwing stones...
Something emitting white smoke fell into the ranks of Cao's army.
Falling at the feet of Wang Tiansheng.
That is……
Wang Tiansheng recognized what that thing was, and was immediately shocked and pulled a Cao Jun soldier beside him in front of him...
"boom!"
"Boom! Boom!"
…
…
When Wang Tiansheng faced death threats, Xia Houcheng was still happily catching horses and sheep.
Those Baishiqiang herdsmen who had escaped could not escape, so they threw a few sheep in the east and drove a few cattle in the west. As a result, Cao's soldiers involuntarily dispersed, chasing and catching all the way. Unknowingly,
The queue is in disarray.
Xiahou Cheng also noticed the black smoke rising in the mountains, but didn't care.
On the one hand, the cattle and sheep caught in front of him, and on the other hand, the murders and arson were all connected. It could not be that Cao Jun set the fire himself, so why should he be so nervous?
Looking at the sheep tied on the horse's back, Xia Houcheng laughed and said, "An extra meal tonight! Everyone will have meat to eat!"
The soldiers of Cao's army cheered more and more, and then they became more energetic in catching the scattered cattle and sheep. Moreover, Xia Houcheng wanted those horses even more, so the cavalry of Cao's army, which was already small in number, became more and more dispersed. Some of them stayed.
While catching cattle and sheep, part of them followed Xia Houcheng to continue chasing the herdsmen who fled on horseback.
Xiahou Cheng did not take these Baishiqiang herdsmen seriously.
When people catch sheep, do they care about what the sheep think, or do they think about whether the sheep will resist, whether they will poke their anus with horns, or kick their private parts with hoofs?
No, they wouldn't worry at all, because they knew that the horns and hooves of the sheep were not used to deal with them, but to deal with the sheep themselves. So when Xiahou Cheng captured these Baishi Qiang, he also used them to deal with them.
The herdsmen of Baishiqiang treat them as sheep and just catch them. What are they worried about?
Until I heard the faint sound of explosions coming from the mountains...
Because they are far apart, they sound a bit blurry.
However, Dahan's current environment is relatively quiet. There is no hustle and bustle of industry, no whistles and horns that sound day and night, and sudden explosions of roars can be transmitted far away.
"What is that sound?" Xiahou Cheng reined in his horse.
Suddenly, as if he had been hit by something, the fear hidden in his memory made his excitement level begin to drop, and he suddenly felt that something was wrong.
He looked around.
The unfamiliar environment around me increased my uneasiness.
"Take back the troops!" Xia Houcheng shouted, "All of them are here! Take the troops back and stop pursuing them!"
"Sima, what about these cattle and sheep?" Cao Jun soldiers asked.
Xia Houcheng hesitated. He was not willing to give up the cattle and sheep, so he issued an order, "Leave a few people behind and follow me for the rest!"
When Xia Houcheng hurriedly led his men towards the black smoke on the top of the mountain and found Wang Tiansheng, he saw Cao Jun's infantry dripping with blood and wounded everywhere.
Xia Houcheng's face suddenly turned ugly.
"How come you're so fat?!"
The explosive power of black powder grenades is still a bit inferior.
Wang Tiansheng used another Cao Jun soldier as a human shield and absorbed most of the damage. However, he was also seriously injured due to the shock wave and explosive fragments. He lay on the ground and vomited blood while telling Xia Houcheng what happened...
After telling all what happened, Wang Tiansheng said with a tearful voice: "Sima... please help me... my legs are bleeding, and... my chest is hurting... please help me, I...
…I will be a cow or a horse from now on…I will repay Sima…”
"Hmm..." Xia Houcheng seemed to respond, "Repay?"
Wang Tiansheng seemed to have hope of survival, so he said more and more urgently: "Sima... this Yangqu is different from what we thought... we shouldn't attack the city again..."
Before Wang Tiansheng could finish his words, he saw Xia Houcheng suddenly put a knife on his neck. Wang Tiansheng was stunned, raised his head, and saw Xia Houcheng's cold eyes.
"Don't do this...I...I can live...please..." Wang Tiansheng begged.
"No, I don't have extra people to save you." Xiahou Cheng coldly rejected Wang Tiansheng, just like Wang Tiansheng had previously rejected the call for help from an injured Cao Jun soldier.
Xiahou Chang's hand moved, and Wang Tiansheng's eyes widened. His throat had been cut, and he died immediately.
"I'm right... I can't gather the wounded soldiers..." Xia Houcheng murmured, and then ordered, "If you can do it yourself if you are seriously injured, do it yourself. If you can't do it, help him!"
It doesn't matter if you lose the battle.
Dead people are nothing.
Anyway, there are many people in Shandong, and if they are dead, they can be found again. In comparison, the Qiusi side is even less able to withstand the losses caused by a long-term war. However, this is a strategic matter, and Xia Houcheng is not qualified to say it.
These. For Xiahou Cheng personally, the setback in Yangqu could only make Xiahou Dun think that he was incompetent.
So, can I withdraw?
Xiahou Cheng was unwilling to retreat, so he was unwilling to retreat.
If you retreat, you have an excuse to bring the wounded soldiers, but if you want to continue fighting, the wounded soldiers will become a burden.
Xia Houcheng gritted his teeth and put all the responsibility on the Yangqu Hussar side, "It's all the fault of these traitors and unruly people! We must avenge our dead brothers!"
"Report!" A soldier said anxiously, "Sima! Someone we left behind was ambushed!"
"Ah?! What?!" Xiahou Cheng was surprised and his eyes widened, as if he heard a sheep start to eat a human.
