"A group of their cavalry has left Shazhou and moved to the north of us." An Xiu pointed at the map and said, "Our cavalry has also moved out in cooperation, crossing the Great Wall and entering the grassland to the north. But now, the strange thing is,
The Turks, on the other hand, have disappeared."
The folk customs in the northwest are fierce, and there are many people who can ride horses. After all, although most of them are Han people, they are already half farmers and half herders. Therefore, the An family in Wuwei has a light cavalry of two to three hundred people, and Changsun Sheng also came to Wuwei.
With 300 cavalry, the total of 500 people is the total number of cavalry available to the Wuwei garrison.
Compared with the tens of thousands of Turkic cavalry, this number is naturally a drop in the bucket, but the fact is indeed here, and Changsun Sheng and An Xiu have not thought of a decisive battle with the Turks on the grassland. At least they still have the Great Wall and Wuwei City to hold on to, in terms of siege.
As for defending the city, the Turks were really no match for the Han people.
What's more, for real horseback fighting, there are also the Tuyuhun people. Their cavalry number is close to 10,000, and they are not just decorations.
"Intensify your investigation. The Zhou army has already moved north. This time Yang Jian and Yu Wenxian still have a tacit understanding. They each take what they need across the river and do not interfere with each other," Changsun Sheng said in a deep voice. "The Turks will definitely not want to fight with each other.
The Zhou people went head-to-head, and the Xianbei cavalry was no joke. At that time, in addition to defending the city, the soldiers and horses of the six towns could suppress all the ethnic groups on the grassland. It was unlikely that the Turks and the Xianbei cavalry would confront each other head-on. It was inevitable these days.
It will start heading west, and the number of scouts will only increase."
"But..." An Xiu frowned.
Changsun Sheng glanced at him and said lightly: "The calm before the storm is the most terrifying thing."
An Xiu took a breath: "Governor, are you worried that the Turks may directly launch a large-scale attack?"
"It's not impossible. The cavalry on the grassland and the people on the grassland are like the erratic clouds and rain in the mountains. It's hard to say when and how they will come. We can only passively defend and be vigilant at all times." Changsun Sheng
He concentrated and said, "Fortunately, the defense of the Great Wall has been reinforced, but Wuwei City needs to hurry up. Once the Great Wall is broken through, we can only rely on Wuwei defense. Behind us is the Qilian Mountains, and there is still a long way to Jincheng to the east. We
There is no way out."
After a pause, Changsun Sheng seemed to feel that the atmosphere was a little solid. He changed the subject and softened his words: "I don't want to go to the Qilian Mountains to eat ice and sleep in the snow."
An Xiu and several other generals and officials all smiled, but the laughter was somewhat helpless. Changsun Sheng said in a deep voice: "The reinforcements have now arrived in Tianshui, and will definitely reach Wuwei within ten days. The number should be tens of thousands.
People are coming and going, and they are carrying bed crossbows and thunder chariots. In addition, five thousand to eight thousand reinforcements will arrive one after another. How to arrange your arrangements must be implemented well, and the regulations will be listed for this official to discuss with General Zhengxi."
"No!" An Xiu and others did not dare to neglect.
"In addition, you may not know something," Changsun Sheng said immediately, "Your Majesty has arrived from Jiankang Mansion to Jiangling. Firstly, it is to prevent the Zhou people from going south, and secondly, it is also to get closer to the northwest. I hope that you will work together,
I don’t want to see His Majesty once again marching to the northwest in person, and both you and I will be disgraced by then!”
"No!" The answer was louder this time, also because this news encouraged them.
For these generals and officials in the northwest, the south of the Yangtze River where the imperial court is located should still be covered with smoke and rain. This is so far away that the imperial court's presence in the northwest is really not high.
Now that Li Xingchen had set off for the Battle of the Northwest, they were very moved by the feeling that the world was moving because of the Northwest.
His own interests and the interests of the imperial court were obviously closely tied together.
Not fighting alone.
For the people in Wuwei City, the battle was still unknown and was still in the pre-war preparation stage. However, for Hou Mi, who led a group of cavalry northwest across Lintao and into the grassland, the battle was about to begin.
Lintao is the end point of the Qin Great Wall, while the Han Great Wall continues to extend northwest from Lintao, across the sandy desert, through Wuwei to Yumen Pass and Yangguan. But no matter what, Lintao is still an important pass in the Great Wall defense line.
After Lintao and further north along the Tao River is Jincheng County. This is the only city that the Han Dynasty can connect to Wuwei. Ledu County on the west side is actually under the control of Tuyuhun, and now the Han Dynasty has no energy to advance westward and directly onto the plateau.
.
Originally, the mission of Secretary Hou was to ensure that the road from Jincheng County to Wuwei County was smooth. This line is adjacent to the river in the north and relies on the Great Wall. There is actually nothing to worry about, but after all, Jincheng County, Lingwu County and other places to the northeast are no longer in Dahan.
Under control, Hou Mi was also afraid that the Turks would directly follow the river from Wuyuan County (today's Dingbian) and Lingwu County (today's Lingwu South) to the southwest to attack Jincheng, and then outflank Hexi.
Different generals naturally have different judgments in the face of the ever-changing battle situation. Chang Sun Sheng in Wuwei County believes that the Turks may attack the Great Wall along the desert, while Hou Mi in Jincheng County believes that the Turks are more likely to take Jincheng and regain it.
Surround Hexi.
His judgment is not unreasonable. Jincheng is the only channel connecting Wuwei. Once Jincheng is blocked, Wuwei will be the turtle in the urn. At that time, the Turks will invade the Hexi along the two ends of the desert. Neither the Han nor Tuyuhun will be able to do anything.
The Turks rely on cavalry to travel, and any situation may happen, so Secretary Hou does not intend to stay in Jincheng County. The news here is too limited.
He decisively decided to lead five hundred cavalry, which was actually almost all the cavalry in Jincheng County, to search northeast along the river until Lingwu County. Lingwu County was the administrative division of Lingzhou in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, so
The jurisdiction area is actually roughly equivalent to Ningxia in later generations. It can be said that only in sparsely populated places like the northwest can a state become a state in the true sense.
However, with the civil strife in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the northern state capitals and military towns have been deserted. Coupled with the Turks' plundering and erosion year after year, Lingwu County has actually existed in name only, and the basic administrative system established here by the Northern Zhou Dynasty has long since fallen apart.
.
Along the way from Jincheng County, Hou Mi didn't even see anyone who could be called an "official". He originally thought that he would be able to find a few principals in Lingwu County, but he found that the city of Lingwu County
The door had long been eroded by the wind and sand, and there were only twenty or thirty people, old and young, left in the city. Even half of the houses in the city had been razed and turned into farming areas for the people in the city.
The locals were indeed very surprised when they saw this group of Han cavalry suddenly appearing, and excitedly came to reward them with water and food. (To be continued)