As countless voices of "willing to surrender" resounded throughout the battlefield, Xia Houru, who led the cavalry back in a roundabout way, despite being unwilling to do so, still led his troops back.
Although he has been in the military for decades, he lacks the consciousness and courage to die in battle.
Although faced with defeat here, he was more willing to lead his cavalry to kill the surrendering Han army.
Even if all the cavalry were buried here, they could not reverse the situation of the battle.
But acting with high spirits can relieve the sorrow and indignation in the chest, fulfill the vows made by one's confidants before going out to live and die together, and use determination without fear of death to allow the Han army to win, but it will also be a tragic victory with heavy casualties.
He can ask for mercy and receive mercy!
However, he was the general who commanded the army, and he was also the commander-in-chief of Wei State in controlling Liangzhou.
No matter when, where or in any situation, we must abandon personal emotions, always maintain a cool head, and make the most appropriate decisions.
The main force of the Han army's attack on Liangzhou was in Xiping County. He died here in battle, which did not help the current situation.
On the contrary, as the commander-in-chief of Liangzhou, his death will make all the scholars and the Qiang and Hu tribes more desperate for Wei's ability to resist the Han army's attack.
Let's go back.
It's time to start from the overall situation for the last time before reaching the end of your official career.
Yes, he has already realized it in his heart.
The enemy was outnumbered and he was on the defensive, but he lost nearly 10,000 soldiers. As a result, Luoyang Temple would not spare him lightly.
Even if Grand Sima Cao Zhen didn't request him, he still couldn't keep it.
Relying on his old diligence and meritorious service, his ending should be unsurprisingly that he was deposed and died at home.
After all, the Xiahou family today is different.
When Cao Cao started his business in the old Wei Dynasty, he treated both the Xiahou family and the Cao family as clans.
Even more important than the Cao family.
For example, Xiahou Dun, the leader of the Xiahou clan, had always been above Cao Ren in official position, and was the only person allowed to enter and exit Wei Wu Cao Cao's bedroom at will.
It's just that once the emperor and his courtiers were born.
After Emperor Wen of Wei Cao Pi came to the throne, he was nepotistic due to the fear of "Wei seizing the direct descendants", and he also paid much less attention to the Xiahou family than the Cao family. In the eyes of the current emperor Cao Rui, the Xiahou family is the founder of Wei.
It is limited to the heroes.
Of course, there are many factors that lead to such a result.
For example, the talents of the Xiahou family withered.
Xiahou Cheng, who was highly praised by Wei Wu and Cao Cao, died young, Xiahou Rong, who was used by Wei Wen and Cao Pi to have extraordinary weapons, died in Hanzhong, and Xiahou Shang, who was worthy of being the chief city of the country, died in his prime.
Those who have extraordinary talents will never miss a year.
How can we prosper if only a group of talented people are left alive?
Now that he is deposed again, it will probably make the Xiahou family even worse, right?
In other words, he was promoted to General of the Western Expedition and was in charge of Liangzhou's military affairs. This outcome was already foreseeable.
After Longyou and Xiaoguan are lost, Liangzhou cannot be defended.
This is a given!
The difference is just a matter of sooner or later.
But the responsibility for the loss of territory always needs to be borne by people.
He is the most suitable person.
After all, for the sake of internal stability and the majesty of Wei State, Luoyang Temple cannot bear such a responsibility.
Naturally, he also has a way to resolve it.
That is a heroic death in battle.
In addition to leaving a posthumous name that cannot be used, the Xiahou family will also continue the heroic name of the Xiahou family. In addition, in order to demonstrate benevolence and righteousness and encourage the latter, Luoyang Temple will also posthumously make him a loyal martyr, so that the responsibility for his defeat will be with him.
The body dies and dissipates.
Just, forget it.
In any case, he started his military career during the period of Wei Wu and Cao Cao.
It should also continue the style of the Wei and Wu Dynasties, in which the Xia princes devoted themselves to the foundation of Wei regardless of personal gain and had no regrets.
But please have a clear conscience.
Defeat is due to inferior skills and not due to selfish interests.
With this thought, Xia Houru led the cavalry back to the camp to tidy up, and then returned to Yuzhong County overnight to guard the gate of Jincheng County: Sangyuan Gorge.
We took along all the baggage, grain, fodder, and other items that could be transported.
Those who cannot be brought will be burned with fire, and those who cannot be kept to support the enemy should not be kept.
As for the surrounding Li Shu people, he did not move, or he asked the soldiers to force the young men to transport the baggage.
It's too late.
After the Han army surrendered the prisoners, they would inevitably pursue them.
Now it was night again, and the time it took for the soldiers to go from house to house to force the common people to move was enough for the Han army to pursue them.
In fact, his decision was not wrong.
The Han army's pursuit came faster than he imagined.
Zheng Pu, who was at the rear of the camp, learned that Wang Mi had died in battle and that his lieutenants had surrendered, so he asked Mi Wei, who had been guarding the food and supplies, to lead his troops out of the back gate of the camp and go around the front camp to help in the battle.
When they arrived, all the infantry of the Wei army fell to the ground and asked to surrender.
When Zhang Yi saw him arriving, he gave him the task of collecting and surrendering the prisoners, and led the Xuanwu Army with high morale to pursue him overnight.
The distance between the military camps of Han and Wei was only more than thirty miles.
Marching quickly all the way, we arrived at the Wei military camp at the first ray of dawn.
At this time, Xia Houru was able to let the cavalry load the grain and baggage into the cart, use the horses to transport the grain and baggage and leave. If it had been half an hour late, the two sides would have fought again.
Both sides were tired, and given the morale of the Han army, Zhang Yi's troops more or less followed and pursued them, seizing some of the baggage and returning.
Zheng Pu only led the army in the afternoon.
The chiefs and three elders of various villages here have been summoned by Xuanwu soldiers and have been waiting for a long time.
They are all docile and have a very numb "calmness".
Liangzhou has been in chaos for decades, and the aggressive and ruthless people have joined the army to fill in the ravines; the bloody people with strong temperaments who cannot bear to be humiliated have long been killed or found a crooked-necked tree and hung themselves on the southeast branch.
Nowadays, Li Shu, who can still live peacefully by farming and herding, have long been accustomed to flags that change from time to time.
Anyway, no matter which side's flag is flying here, they will not forget to collect their grain, cattle and sheep as military supplies.
No matter who you pay, you pay, the difference is just more or less.
Furthermore, compared with the Wei State, which had a separatist power in Liangzhou and strict laws in the past, the taxes of the Han court might be less.
A skinny body, a lifeless face, dull eyes, and thin and ragged clothes.
When Zheng Pu summoned them, the emotion "I'd rather be a peace dog than a rebel" flashed through his heart, and he lost interest in talking to them.
There is nothing to talk about with a group of people who are dead-hearted.
After roughly understanding the number of Li people and the distribution of various villages here, Zheng Pu asked Jun Zheng to do the work for them and explain to them the standards and laws of the Han Dynasty's tax collection.
This suddenly made their eyes look brighter.
Moved, suspicious, frightened, anxious, etc.
They couldn't believe it.
Compared with the materials collected by the Wei State, the taxes imposed by the Han court were much lower.
Moreover, this young general with a scar on his face even claimed that the acres of land owned by the powerful families in Jincheng County would be confiscated and given to them for farming in equal amounts after statistics.
The requirements are very simple, they must not gather in crowds to cause trouble, and just perform corvées in accordance with the law.
Is the current Han Dynasty court so kind?
These village chiefs and the three elders all recalled the brutal conquests and tyranny described by their fathers and ancestors during the Ling Emperor's period. They also all focused their attention on a village chief who was only in his forties but looked as old as his sixties.
He is already the oldest "highly respected" person among the people.
After hesitating for a long time, he finally mustered up the courage to prostrate himself to the ground and asked the doubts in a trembling voice for everyone, "General, do we really only need to pay these taxes and perform corvee service?"
"right."
Nodding slightly, Zheng Pu replied in a very gentle and gentle voice, "My father-in-law, the taxes of all the states and counties in my Han Dynasty are like this, and there will be no others. If there are descendants in the family who recruit soldiers, the imperial court will also
Correspondingly, the taxes on your family will be reduced, so you don’t have to worry.”
"Thank you General for your kindness!"
"Thank you General"
As soon as Zheng Pu finished speaking, all the village chiefs and the three elders fell to the ground, choked with sobs and thanked him, and broke down in tears.
Alas~~~
What some people take for granted is like a gift to others.
After having people escort the commander and the three elders back, Zheng Pu also put away his heavy heart and went to inspect the busy soldiers in each battalion.
From last night to now, all the Han troops have neither eaten nor slept.
This was the time when the pots were being cooked and the various departments were assigned to take turns to rest. As a general, he needed to show his face everywhere to appease the soldiers, in order to prevent the soldiers on duty who had drawn lots from complaining.
There is nothing we can do about this.
With the leader outside, no one dared to let all the soldiers rest.
Otherwise, who can guarantee whether Xia Houru, who has already led the army back, will come again to cover up the attack.
After all, in the Battle of Wancheng in the past, Jia Xu suggested pursuing Zhang Xiu again after his first pursuit failed, and the deeds of defeating Wei Wu and Cao Cao were familiar to any general.
Under the protection of his retinue, Zheng Pu walked slowly.
Sometimes he smiles and nods to the soldiers building the camp, sometimes he chats and laughs with the patrolling soldiers, and sometimes he stamps his feet and pats the fallen snow off the bodies of the soldiers on duty.
Yes, it's snowing again.
In Liangzhou, which has just entered winter in December, the wind is like a knife and the snow is falling continuously.
This caused great trouble to the Han troops stationed outside.
The remains of the camp that Xia Houru burned when he left are still burning with small flames and choking black smoke, so Zheng Pu had no choice but to move the camp to an open space by the Yuanchuan River.
Without the cover of leeward mountains, both the manpower required for security and the risk of being attacked are greatly increased.
Even cutting firewood is laborious.
Otherwise, let the Miwei Department escort the prisoners and captured ordnance back tomorrow, right?
There were more than 3,000 prisoners of the Wei army. Although they could take on the hard work of building camps and fortifications, they would also consume too much food and fodder.
And now that they have achieved a great victory, there are not many soldiers and horses to defend Jincheng County against the Wei Dynasty. Thousands of soldiers and horses are left to threaten Sangyuan Gorge in Yuzhong County, which can also greatly relieve the pressure of the hussar generals to attack Xiping County.
I just don’t know how many soldiers and horses Xiahou Ru will dispatch from Xiping County?
Also, I wonder how many of the rebel forces of the Wei Dynasty were restrained by General Zhenxi's troops at Siwang Gorge?
If he can't contain too much, how about I write a letter and ask him to send some troops to come here and attack Sangyuan Gorge together?
After inspecting the camp, Zheng Pu squatted beside the Yuanchuan River that spread from the river. He gently pushed aside the thin ice layer with his hands and held water to cleanse his face. The cold river water covered his face, and his originally groggy mind suddenly sobered up.
I couldn't help but think about my next plan.
When he led the army here, he did not expect such a great victory.
Therefore, the previous arrangement that was just a containment was naturally inappropriate.
Are you going to write a letter asking for orders to attack Sangyuan Gorge?
Or are they just stationed here and waiting for military reports from other generals?
Zheng Pu had a hard time choosing.
If it was an attack, troops would have to be dispatched from other places to help guard Xiangping City, so that the Guanxing tribe could come with provisions and siege equipment to attack together.
His own troops and horses are definitely not enough.
The terrain of the Jincheng County (Lanzhou) Basin determines that if the Sangyuan Gorge is captured, the entire Jincheng County can march straight in. The rebel Xia Houru would rather abandon Xiping County than neglect the defense of the Sangyuan Gorge.
It would also be very difficult to just garrison.
This place is quite far away from Pingxiang City, and the wind and snow will not stop until next spring and February, so just transporting grain will be a big problem.
"Woo~~~~Woo~~~~"
Just as Zheng Pu was thinking to himself, the soldiers on duty on the north side of the military camp blew the horn.
Is there an enemy?!
Zheng Pu suddenly stood up straight and strode towards the north side of the military camp.
Climb up to the observation platform and have a panoramic view.
I saw a troop of soldiers and horses coming slowly from four to five miles away. There were about three to four hundred cavalry and about the same number of infantry.
It's just a little strange.
The infantry seemed to be being escorted, and the cavalry were driving a large herd of cattle and sheep.
Driving cattle and sheep with the army, which Qianghu tribe is this?
Zheng Pu put his hand on his chin.
"General, I have arranged the soldiers in formation and allocated manpower to guard the prisoners."
Zhang Ni, who heard the sound of footsteps coming up behind him, reported with a tired look on his face, "It's just that our army is tired. I suggest that we stick to the camp for the time being."
"okay."
Nodding, Zheng Pu smiled at him and said, "This person does not look like an enemy, but it is right to be cautious."
Indeed, the infantry and cavalry of less than a thousand men were not a threat to the Han army. Moreover, after the troops and horses had traveled nearly a mile or two, a group of cavalry separated from them and came over, shouting loudly as they galloped.
Zheng Pu took a closer look and saw that it was Liang Yuanbi from the Xiutu branch of the Xiongnu.
This small tribe with only more than 2,000 households had previously taken the initiative to point out water sources to the Han army as a show of goodwill, and now it even sent a big gift.
The infantry being escorted were the Wei troops who fled north last night and strayed into their tribe's pasture.
As for why they are driving cattle and sheep here~~~
Liang Yuanbi wanted to rely on the big man.
He learned about last night's battle from the prisoners of the Wei army, which made him feel that Liangzhou must belong to the Han Dynasty in the future, so he started to play the trick of "if you want to take something, you must give it first".
Thinking of sheltering under the wings of the big man, the tribe can survive in a more nourishing way.
No matter how bad it is, it can still control the military might of the big Han, so that other Qiang and Hu tribes will not dare to bully the weak one anymore.
Zheng Pu was overjoyed at his arrival.
It's not that I'm complacent about "eating a pot of slurry to welcome the king's master", but I feel that this Xiongnu tribe slaughtered can be used to attack the heart!
Three days later, Sangyuan Gorge.
Zheng Pu brought Zhang Bao's armored cavalry and Liang Yuanbi's hundreds of tribesmen to view the terrain of the pass.
Xia Houru, who was on the pass, was also silently watching outside the pass.
When I was young, I suddenly closed my eyes and sighed deeply in my heart.
In Liangzhou, there are more Qiang and Hu people than Han Lishu, and now there are Qiang and Hu tribes who have defected to Nishu.
