Autumn of the third year of Han Dynasty, August 19th.
In Mayi City, people are already panicking.
One piece of bad news keeps coming from the north of Mayi.
By now, all Han army posts and villages before Mayi have fallen.
The Xiongnu army was only twenty or thirty miles away from Mayi City.
With such a short distance, the Huns only needed one charge to reach the city of Mayi.
The Huns did not hide their intentions at all.
Aries, Loufan, Zhelan, and even King Youxian's great banner stood tall, and tens of thousands of cavalry were wreaking havoc everywhere.
Thick smoke rose from many villages, and even hills were set alight by fires, which burned all night long.
"The enemy who invaded this time has as many as 40,000 horses!" In the Yamen of Mayi County, a man dressed like a scribe talked to the Mayi order: "The Ming government will make plans early in the morning!"
Forty thousand invaders, this number alone has exceeded the permanent population of Mayi City.
Last year, Mayi counted Dingkou. The total population of the whole city, including soldiers, merchants, old, weak, women and children, was only over 17,000.
The Xiongnu's military strength was more than twice the total population of Mayi City.
Anyone who is not a fool knows very well that Mayi City can no longer be defended.
The only difference is that it took a few days for the Huns to break through.
"Have you made plans in advance?" The magistrate of Mayi County chuckled: "Sir, just say what you want to say!"
"Students believe that the Ming Dynasty has three strategies: upper, middle and lower!" the scribe said confidently.
"Sir, please give me a try!" The county magistrate squinted his eyes and quietly touched a teacup.
"The best strategy is of course that those who understand current affairs are heroes. The Ming Dynasty should quickly surrender to the Xiongnu to prevent Mayi from being robbed by the military rebellion..." The scribe said loudly: "Now, the Xiongnu Youxian King is driving tens of thousands of troops with a fierce momentum.
If you come, you will definitely break Mayi. If the Ming Dynasty stubbornly resists the Huns, the students are worried that after the Huns break the city, they may retaliate against the Mayi soldiers and civilians and massacre the city..."
This person was right. When the Huns invaded, they encountered cities with fierce resistance. After breaking the city, they often chose to massacre the city to vent their anger.
only……
The county magistrate stood up, looked at the scribe, and asked, "If I remember correctly, you seem to be a Confucian scholar, right?"
The county magistrate looked down at his robe and muttered to himself, "I am also a Confucian scholar!"
"It is better for the Yi and Di to have a king than for the Xia to have none!"
"Confucius said it was benevolence, Mencius said it was righteousness, the Spring and Autumn Period was about great righteousness, and the poems and books contained the ways of the sages of the past kings!"
"Zhong Nizi and Zhong Nizi in the Book of Poems and Books, never taught me how to live an ignoble existence. How much more should I bend my knees to flatter the barbarians, be sent to the left, and forget my ancestors?" The county magistrate sighed: "Sir, I am really disappointed!"
"Come here!" the county magistrate said sternly: "Take this traitor down and hang his head on the city gate!"
Immediately, two strong government officials came in and without any explanation, they pushed the scribe to the ground.
"How stupid the Ming government is!" the scribe shouted: "Resistance is the only way to die! Why should the Ming government ignore the lives of the people in the city for the sake of their own reputation?"
"Hahaha..." The county magistrate laughed: "You and the idiot behind you are the ones who are stupid!"
He bowed his hands in the direction of Chang'an and said, "Do you know that there are saints in China?"
"The Holy Emperor issued an edict ten days ago, ordering the Feihu Army and the Juzhu Army to break camp and leave the country!"
"At this moment, Feihu, the two armies are only fifty miles away from our city of Mayi..." County Magistrate Shi Shiran straightened his crown and hat: "Your Majesty sees thousands of miles away and has already seen through the Huns' schemes and your activities!"
When the scribe heard this, he collapsed on the ground, foaming at the mouth, and kept repeating: "Impossible, how is this possible..."
After a while, he lay down on the ground, crying and laughing: "The villain is guilty, guilty!" As he said this, he kept kowtowing.
Looks like he's gone crazy.
But the county magistrate turned a deaf ear and still waved his hand and said: "Drag it down and chop it down!"
Then he went into the inner hall, took off his hat, put on his armor, and strapped on his sword.
He knew that the Juzhu Army and the Feihu Army were already close at hand.
But Mayi City still cannot avoid a bloody battle.
The next day will be the most difficult day in Mayi.
After receiving the information that the main force of the Han army is coming to help, the Huns are very likely to launch a crazy offensive against Mayi, and may even capture Mayi at any cost.
And Ma Yi must survive these twelve difficult hours.
This is not only for the people in Mayi City, but also for victory.
"Xiang Gong restored the vengeance of the ninth generation, and the spring and Autumn period will be great!" He raised his head and drew his sword out of its sheath: "It has been fifty-six years since Pingcheng to this day. It is time to repay the blood debt from the Xiongnu!"
………………………………
Three hours ago, at dawn.
The vanguard of the Juzhu Army stopped their march at a mountainous intersection sixty miles away from Mayi City.
Cheng Bushi rode his horse down the mountain and took dozens of riders to inspect the geography and landforms of this intersection. Then he nodded and ordered: "Send an order to the entire army to camp here and build fortifications!"
A battle between tens of thousands of troops is not as simple as people imagine, with the commanders of the two armies pressing all their troops forward and then deciding the winner.
Since the Warring States Period, the pace of war has become faster and faster, but the duration of battles has become longer and longer.
When Bai Qi first emerged, he attacked Xincheng in South Korea. The Battle of Xincheng lasted only three months.
But, as time goes by.
The battle began to take longer and longer.
The peak battle, the Changping Battle between Qin and Zhao, took more than five years from the beginning of the war between the two countries to the end of the battle.
Even counting only the time when Zhao Kuo was surrounded by the Qin army in Changping, it lasted several months.
The defeat of Zhao Jun took forty-six days.
The battle for the establishment of the kingdom and the dynasty, the Battle of Haixia, actually lasted for two full months.
This only counts the time after Han Xin and Peng Yue joined the battlefield.
As for the Battle of Pingcheng, it was said to last only seven days.
However, dozens of battles were fought in Jinyang, Taiyuan, Panshi, etc. before the king of Pingcheng could see the king.
In the age of cold weapons, if you want to eliminate any army with more than 10,000 people and whose morale is not broken in positional warfare, it is actually a waste of time.
Many times, what is being compared is the patience and willpower of the commanders on both sides.
Of course, the upcoming Battle of Mayi will be different from all previous battles in Chinese history.
This time, both warring parties will use cavalry as their main force.
They all use cavalry to test and fight each other.
The crossbowmen and infantry phalanx, which have played the leading roles in wars for decades in the past, will be completely reduced to supporting roles in this war.
However, Cheng Bushi knew very well that more than half of the Juzhu Army and Feihu Army were still infantry and crossbowmen.
The strategic purpose of assisting Zhi Buyi and commanding the two main forces of the Han army was not to eliminate how many Huns, or to inflict heavy losses on the Huns.
From the very beginning, the task assigned by the imperial court was to let the Juzhu and Feihu armies attract the main Xiongnu forces from the front and create favorable opportunities for the Xiliu Camp behind them and the Hussars army ambushing in the foothills of Wuzhou Mountain.
So, start from this perspective.
Then there is actually only one thing he needs to do: tell the Huns to come and beat me!
"Bring the map!" Cheng Bushi dismounted and said.
Soon, a Han soldier who was responsible for keeping and carrying the map came to him carrying a wooden map.
This is an old-fashioned map drawn by Juzhujun.
Although not as good as the paper maps Cheng Bushi used when he was in Chang'an.
But, overall, this map is still very helpful.
Look at the mountains and plains and beacons on the map.
Cheng Bushi slowly constructed a battle plan in his mind.
At this moment, in his eyes, the area of more than 200 miles within Wuzhou Fortress and north of Mayi City will definitely become a battlefield.
Therefore, every commanding height in this area, every key road intersection, and every strategic village will become the key to the battle between the Han and Hungarian armies.
The key to victory lies in who can capture more key points in the war.
Especially enemies like the Huns.
Compressing their activity space, in Cheng Bushi's view, is the key to victory.
After all, the activity space of a cavalry is two hundred miles or one hundred miles, and the role it can play is simply different.
If its activity space is only a few dozen miles, it is actually no different from waiting to die.
No matter how venomous a poisonous snake is in a cage, it cannot bite anyone to death.
Stare at the map and think about the three-dimensional battlefield constructed in your mind.
Cheng Bushi's hand pointed at the village on the plain thirty miles south of Mayi.
"Please tell the former general..." Cheng Bushi called a messenger and said: "General, please give an order immediately. The whole army should speed up and seize Huangshi Pavilion!"
On this map, Huangshi Pavilion is located in the center of the straight road between Mayi City and Yanmen Pass.
Thirty miles to the north is Mayi, to the west is the weak flank of the Xiongnu army, and to the south is the rear of the Han army.
By guarding this place, we can prevent the Huns cavalry from penetrating into Yanmen Pass, and they can also support the defenders of Mayi City anytime and anywhere. The Huns will not be able to surround Mayi City.
The Huns were unable to surround Mayi and penetrate into Yanmen, so they had only one choice - to withdraw their own troops.
And this is exactly what Cheng Bushi needs to see.
Once the Xiongnu forces were recovered, the Han army would be able to compress the entire front line fifty miles to the north without a single blow.
………………………………
"Discover Han reinforcements?"
Under the banner of King Youxian of the Xiongnu, Yin Zhixie was shocked when he heard the news.
"Where are they?" Yin Zhixie asked nervously: "How many people are there?"
"Your Majesty, the vanguard cavalry was sixty miles away from the city of Mayi. They discovered the vanguard of the Han army coming for reinforcements. Preliminary estimates suggest that the vanguard is about two thousand cavalry. They are now stationed at an intersection fifty miles away from Mayi. They have already set foot.
Camp..." A Hun nobleman next to Yin Zhi replied.
"Fifty miles!" Yin Zhixie jumped up immediately.
This means that the distance between the Han army's reinforcements and Mayi City is only two hours' journey at most.
He looked up and saw the city of Mayi, which was already surrounded by Huns cavalry, and bit his lip.
Then, he asked in a strange way: "Aries, Loufan and Zhelan, do the three tribes know about it?"
"Reporting to the king, the rangers of the Han army in charge of guarding and cleaning up the south of Mayi are all under the king. The slaves have not had time to tell Aries and other kings!" the nobleman said.
"Don't tell them yet..." The military official reined in the reins, stretched his neck, and looked into the distance.
At this moment, he had a huge question in his mind - why did the Han Dynasty send troops in advance?
Knowing that he had no affair with the Han Dynasty, Yin Zhixie became very uneasy.
"It is unlikely that King Donghu will know about the Aries and Zhelan tribes going south!" he thought in his mind.
Zhelan and Baiyang went south, taking the territory of King Kunxie and King Xiutu. Moreover, when these two tribes entered the Hetao Plain from the Hexi Corridor, in order to keep the secret, they all changed into Kunxie and Xiutu.
flags and clothing.
In order to prevent Donghu King Lu Tazhi from hearing anything was wrong, Shan Yuting even sent people to the king's tent of the Donghu tribe to keep an eye on Lu Tazhi.
Under such circumstances, it was unlikely that Lu Tazhi would be able to detect Aries and Zhelan's southward journey.
Then here comes the problem!
How did the people of the Han Dynasty know this?
When a forward looked over, there were two thousand Han troops.
One can imagine how big the scale of this support army will be!
There will be at least 30,000 to 40,000 people!
This kind of power was no longer something that a certain frontier county of the Han Dynasty could mobilize and organize.
Under the system of the Han Dynasty, only the emperor of Chang'an could use his power to mobilize an army of this size.
And Yin Zhixie knew very well that even if the Xiongnu wanted to mobilize more than 30,000 troops, it would not be possible to mobilize them immediately with just an order.
In the Han Dynasty, when an army had to be mobilized, even the most elite army needed seven or eight days to prepare from preparation to breaking out of camp.
Only when all equipment and logistics are organized can we send out troops.
In other words, at least ten days ago, Emperor Chang'an's order had arrived at an important fortress in the Han Dynasty from Chang'an and mobilized the army there.
"Have you seen the flag clearly?" Yin Zhi turned around and asked.
"Your Majesty, your servants and others seem to have seen a large flag with a tiger embroidered on it coming from the south. There is also a flag with a long snake on it behind it..."
"Juzhu Army!" Yin Zhixie took a breath: "There is also the Flying Fox Army!"
Yin Zhixie couldn't be more familiar with these two old friends.
When his father was alive, he was one of the most hated and respected enemies.
It was also the theme of the game he played with slaves while riding on the back of a sheep when he was a child.
The name of that game is: Kill the Flying Fox(sentence note).
For the Xiongnu, during the Han Dynasty, their biggest enemies were the three hard and smelly stones that blocked their way south.
Wei Shang in the clouds, the Juzhu Army stationed in Yanmen County, and the Feihu Army lying on the ancient Feihu Road.
For more than twenty years, these three old friends have given the Huns too many surprises and scares.
So much so that even children know that if they want to go south, these three enemies must be eliminated.
"At least half a month ago, Chang'an's order was issued to the Feihu Army..." Yin Zhi closed his eyes and thought of a terrible result.
The envoy who traveled day and night from Chang'an, carrying the orders of the Han emperor, delivered an order from Chang'an to the Han army camp at Feihukou after killing three or more passing horses.
Then, with a total strength of 20,000, the entire army broke out of camp and secretly marched northward, leaving a small number of guards behind.
At the same time, the Juzhu Army, which was originally stationed scattered throughout Yanmen County, received an order to assemble.
Countless supplies and ordnance flowed in an orderly manner in the hinterland of the Han Dynasty.
Hundreds of thousands of civilian laborers pushed wheelbarrows one after another, carrying loads of supplies. One after another, carriages loaded with supplies climbed along countless ancient roads, pulled by civilian laborers and livestock.
And up.
If his guess is true.
So……
Yin Zhixie suddenly turned around and looked behind him.
Then, he saw thick smoke billowing into the sky.
Yin Zhi stumbled, unable to bear the weight, and almost fell off the horse.
"Your Majesty!" Several nobles were quick-sighted and quickly supported him.
"Immediately order the entire army to shrink back, and at the same time, immediately ask King Aries, King Loufan and King Zhelan to come to my place for a meeting!" After Yin Zhi stood firm, his first words were impatient orders.
.
As the Righteous King of the Xiongnu, as a member of the Xiongnu royal family determined to compete with the military ministers for the position of Shan Yu.
Yin Zhixie's military talent is naturally very good.
He loudly said to his left and right: "We have been fooled. This is a trap! A trap set by the Han Dynasty! Just like when we hunt foxes on the grassland, we first introduce the fox into the trap set, and then, no matter how old the fox is,
No matter how cunning, no matter how clever or sensitive you are, you can't escape the fate of being caught in a trap!" (To be continued.)
