Chapter nine hundred and fiftieth nine consecutive battles
The remaining Xiongnu soldiers fled north, and Geng Shu led his Youzhou cavalry in hot pursuit. During the pursuit, a scout reported back on horseback and found a large number of Wuhuan cavalry in front.
The Wuhuan people are a branch of the Donghu people. Like the Xiongnu, they are all northern nomads. They live in Shanggu, Yuyang, Dongliao, and the north of western Liaoning. They have frequent contact with the Han people and have been Hanized to a large extent.
However, the Wuhuan people were not a farming civilization after all, and still relied on nomadic herders for a living. In this regard, they were essentially different from the Han people.
Geng Shu asked: "How many Wuhuan troops are ahead?"
The scout said solemnly: "General, there are probably thousands of enemy troops!"
Geng Shu narrowed his eyes, thought for a moment, looked at the captains around him, and asked: "Everyone, shall we fight or withdraw?"
All the captains said in unison: "We all listen to the general!"
Geng Shu nodded, shook the tiger-headed halberd in his hand, and said in a loud voice: "Everywhere the sun and moon shine, and wherever the rivers reach, is Han territory! Daijun is the territory of our Han Dynasty, how can we allow foreign barbarians to trample on it!
Brothers, follow me into battle to kill the enemy!"
"Kill -" the surrounding Han soldiers shouted in unison.
Geng Shu clamped his legs under the belly of the war horse. The horse neighed, kicked off its hooves, and galloped forward. The Youzhou cavalry behind them urged their horses to follow one by one. More than two thousand riders started charging on the plain.
Soon, people saw a large amount of dust spreading on the horizon ahead. It was obvious that a large number of cavalry were running towards their side. Geng Shu shouted loudly: "Load the crossbows!"
Following his shouts, the Youzhou Cavalrymen all picked up their crossbows.
Both sides were cavalry, marching in opposite directions, and both were engaged in cavalry charges. The distance between them shortened so quickly that it was conceivable that when the two sides were less than a hundred steps away, the Wuhuan cavalry on the opposite side took the lead in firing arrows.
I saw a large array of arrows soaring from the Wuhuan Cavalry camp, drawing an arc in the air, and roaring towards the Youzhou Cavalry camp.
Almost all the soldiers of the Han army, led by Geng Shu, were lying on their horses, trying to reduce the area where they were attacked as much as possible.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh——
Snap, snap, snap——
Arrows rained down from the sky, and whistling sounds passed through people's ears from time to time. Some of the arrows were nailed to the ground against people's armors. From time to time, Han soldiers were hit by arrows and fell off their horses, sometimes with both men and horses.
and was nailed to the ground by arrows.
The long-range arrow shooting of the nomads has always been their trump card, and it has become their basic skill.
In this regard, the Han army was indeed no match for the nomads, but the heavy armor on the Han cavalry could withstand the damage of arrows to the greatest extent.
Many arrows hit the Han army. Although they penetrated the outer iron armor and the inner leather armor at the same time, this also greatly reduced the strength of the arrows, so that the remaining energy of the arrows could only penetrate into people's skin and could not
No matter how deep the penetration was, it would not be able to cause the most fatal damage to the Han soldiers.
The distance between the two sides was even closer, less than fifty steps away. At this time, the crossbow arrow array of Youzhou Tuqi was activated. When the arrows flew in the air, they did not draw an arc, but flew straight forward.
The Wuhuan cavalry who rushed at the front were the first to be among them. For a moment, people were on their backs, and their horses were neighing. People's shouts and horses' neighing were all in one.
The Youzhou cavalry only had time to fire two rounds of arrows, and the soldiers on both sides were almost in contact. The cavalry put down their crossbows one after another, the Han army picked up their iron cymbals, and the Wuhuan army picked up their scimitars.
Fighting in person, fully launched.
Thousands of horses galloped past each other, the sound of sharp swords breaking armor came and went, the screams of people, and the sound of falling horses could not be heard without stopping.
Geng Shu held a tiger-headed halberd and waved it outwards. The Wuhuan cavalry who passed by him were chopped off their horses one after another.
Without any skills, the battle between the cavalry of both sides was completely a head-on confrontation. This was the most direct and brutal competition between the cavalry power of both sides.
The combat power of the Han army is indeed strong. Whether it is the Western Han Dynasty or the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Han army's combat power has never been weak. In a head-on confrontation, the Han army's battle loss ratio against the Xiongnu and Wuhuan and their ilk is basically one to three.
Or one to four.
At that time, the armor of the Han army, as well as the iron spears, ring-headed knives, and crossbows used by the cavalry were all the most advanced weapons in the world. That's why the "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" made this sigh: Therefore, the country is always weak.
The Han Dynasty was destroyed, and the Han Dynasty was destroyed by force.
Even when the Han Dynasty fell, the Han army was still the most powerful army at that time.
During the Three Kingdoms period, the situation was so chaotic, wars were going on everywhere, and the people were in dire straits. Even so, Zhang Liao still led the Wei army (Han army) to destroy the Wuhuan, and the Wuhuan nation was removed from history.
Back to the story. Geng Shu led the Youzhou cavalry and fought a bloody battle with the Wuhuan cavalry. The two sides fought fiercely, and the soldiers on the war horses fell in groups.
Geng Shu took the lead and led an elite group of Han troops from the front of the Wuhuan cavalry formation to the end of the formation, passing through the formation.
However, out of more than two hundred elites, only thirty or forty people were left. When the hundreds of Huns hiding behind the Wuhuan cavalry saw this, they thought they had an opportunity and rushed forward one after another, hoping to beat the drowned dog with a club.
Geng Shu, who was covered in blood from the battle, immediately became energetic again when he saw the Huns. He roared, swung his tiger-head halberd, and urged his horse to meet them.
Dozens of elite Han troops led by Geng Shu and more than a hundred Xiongnu cavalry fought together again.
At first, there were many Huns, and they surrounded Geng Shu and others to fight. But as the fighting continued, the numbers of both sides became evenly matched. Then, as the fighting continued, the Han army became more numerous and the Huns were fewer.
After a fierce battle between the two sides, eight or ninety of the Huns' cavalry were killed, while the Han army only suffered less than ten casualties. Seeing this, the Huns' cavalry did not dare to continue the fight and turned their horses towards the Wuhuan people.
He ran towards the camp. Geng Shu stared with bloodshot eyes and chased after him with a halberd. He got behind a Hun cavalry and swept his halberd. Hearing a crisp click, the Hun cavalry could not even dodge or block.
Before he could do it, Geng Shu lazily cut him off with a halberd.
This melee lasted for nearly an hour and ended with a great victory for the Han army and a great defeat for the Wuhuan army.
Of the thousands of Wuhuan cavalry, only about a thousand escaped in the end. As for the hundreds of remnants of the Xiongnu, not a single one escaped. They were killed by Geng Shu and other Han soldiers.
After the battle, a general sent by Feng Yi found Geng Shu in a battlefield full of broken limbs. Geng Shu gathered the corpses of several Wuhuan soldiers together, sat on them, and gasped.
The blood was dripping down his armor, and he couldn't tell whether it was his own blood or the blood splashed on him by the enemy.
The general came to Geng Shu and looked at him carefully. He couldn't help grinning secretly and asked: "General Geng, you... are you injured?"
Geng Shu lowered his head and looked at himself. The silver armor had been dyed red, and the white robe on his back had turned into red.
He wiped the sweat from his face, and in a moment, his red face turned into a big red and white face. He stood up, cupped his hands to the general, and said: "I'm fine, these are all enemies."
Blood!"
The general breathed a sigh of relief, turned over and dismounted, and when he came to Geng Shu, he returned the salute and said urgently: "The general knows that General Geng is chasing the remnants of the enemy's army. He is very anxious. Let me come over and take General Geng back. The general said
Well, if General Geng refuses to come with me, then..."
"Just what?"
"Just let me escort you back!"
Geng Shu laughed when he heard this, shook his head and said: "The general is too cautious!"
"General Geng..."
"Okay, okay, I'll just go back with you!"
After two fierce battles in a row, the resentment that was pent up in Geng Shu's stomach was finally vented. He called a captain over and asked him to count the casualties of his own soldiers and arrange manpower to transport the bodies of the fallen soldiers back.
Geng Shu went into battle with 3,000 cavalry. At the Wu Jiaju, he lost hundreds of soldiers. In the battle with Wuhuan cavalry, he lost hundreds more soldiers. The 3,000 cavalry were now reduced to less than 2,000.
Returning to the main formation, he met up with Feng Yi. Feng Yi was also shocked when he saw the blood stains on Geng Shu's body.
Before Feng Yi could ask, Geng Shu took the initiative to kneel down on one knee, stepped in and admitted his mistake, and said: "I did not listen to the general's instructions and rashly pursued the enemy. Please forgive me, general!"
Feng Yi shook his head helplessly and smiled, and said: "General Geng defeated the Xiongnu cavalry and the Wuhuan cavalry in a row. He won the battle and won consecutive battles. What crime is there?! Please get up quickly!"
In terms of dealing with the Huns and Wuhuan people, Feng Yi's experience was really not as rich as Geng Shu's. Moreover, they had won great victories, so Feng Yi had nothing to say.
Geng Shu's character is very similar to that of Geng Yan. It must be said that Geng Kuang, the governor of Shanggu, taught two good sons.
Although he won two great victories in a row and defeated the Huns and Wuhuan people who had fled to the south of Dai County, Geng Shu was neither complacent nor arrogant, and remained as usual.
He cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, General, for your kindness of not punishing me!"
Feng Yi smiled and said: "This time, General Geng has demonstrated the majesty of our Han army. The Huns and Wuhuan people will also restrain their behavior!"
Geng Shu stood up and sighed: "I really regret that I have no skills at all, and I can't definitely wipe out all the invading barbarians!"
Feng Yi smiled and patted Geng Shu on the shoulder and said: "General Geng has done a good job." After a moment, he said meaningfully: "Your brother also specially wrote to me, saying that you are young and competitive, and asked me to do more.
Bound to you!"
Hearing Feng Yi mention his eldest brother Geng Yan, Geng Shu's eyes immediately lit up and asked: "How is your eldest brother now?"
Feng Yi smiled and said: "Bo Zhao defeated Zhang Bu in Qingzhou and made an unparalleled contribution. Now in Luoyang, apart from Da Sima, your brother has the highest prestige!"
Geng Shu was very excited when he heard this. He took a deep breath and said: "General, sooner or later, I will be like my elder brother!"
Feng Yi patted Geng Shu on the shoulder again and said with a smile: "The Geng family are all tiger generals!"
Encountering the Xiongnu and Wuhuan cavalry was just an episode in the march of the Han army. Next, the army continued to march north. At the same time, a large number of Han army scouts took the lead and arrived at Lingqiu to monitor Lingqiu City.
One move.
Jia Lan deployed 10,000 soldiers and horses in Lingqiu, and Lingqiu became the enemy's most important military location in the south of Dai County. If the nail in Lingqiu could be successfully pulled out, it would mean that the Han army would control it all at once.
The entire southern part of Dai County.
Not long after, the Han army led by Feng Yi finally entered Lingqiu County, only thirty miles away from Lingqiu City.
As the army was walking forward, a scout ran back on horseback. After seeing Feng Yi, the scout quickly got off his horse, stepped in and saluted, and said: "General!"
"What's the matter?"
"Report to the general, Lu Fang's army stationed at Lingqiu suddenly retreated and is heading north!" the scout said urgently.
Hearing this, everyone present was startled.
The two sides haven't fought yet. Lu Fangjun fled without fighting? He gave up such an important Lingqiu? People came close to Feng Yi and asked: "General, is this... a fraud?
?”
"Yes, General, the bandit army is acting strangely! Lingqiu is the center of the southern part of Dai County. There is no reason for the enemy to give up Lingqiu like this?" "What are the two brothers Jia Lan and Jia Biao planning?