In April, the land in the northwest becomes warmer, and the land in Liangzhou has already become prosperous. The trees in Heishui County are lush, and the plain area is already a green land.
Li Xiang's nearly 600,000 troops are distributed around Zhangye County, 350,000 troops guard the Qiang Fortress, Lingfeng County, and Heishui County, and 250,000 troops guard around Zhangye County.
The huge amount of food consumed by the 600,000-strong army every day made Prime Minister Li a little worried. Two and a half months had passed since the confrontation with the Ma family.
The naval forces constantly transported large amounts of food from the north to the south in order to maintain the consumption of the Xiliang army.
Each department in Xiliang needs to store more than two months of food, so as to ensure that when the war begins, the Xiliang army will not have to worry about food in the next two months.
The armies of the Ma family and the Han family blocked the path forward of the Xiliang army, and looked like they were about to launch an attack. Hentian County in the north of Zhangye County has all retreated, and Nadeng County, which is close to Fufeng County in the west, is here.
At that time, it had become a forward fortress for the Ma family army.
A hundred thousand Ma family troops are stationed in this county. Hentian County has been abandoned by them. Although Hentian County has natural dangers from the river, once the Xiliang army reaches Hentian County, no one will be able to come to support them.
Hentian County has been abandoned by the Ma family. At the same time, the Ma family's 200,000 troops stationed in Hentian County rushed to the new station.
This place is the city that the Qiang, Xianbei and other ethnic groups have longed for. Once the Ma family army retreats, those hungry dog-like ethnic groups will definitely attack southward as soon as possible.
Hentian County is close to the Qiang and Xianbei grassland ethnic groups. The population in this county is not very large, with less than 500,000 people. This is even sparser than the population in counties in the northwest.
The population is sparse. If it weren't for the fertile grassland from Hentian County to Zhangye County, it would be an important horse herding area for the Ma family and one of the major horse production areas in Liangzhou.
The Xianbei and Qiang ethnic groups would launch attacks on Hentian County every once in a while, just to bypass the county and steal a few war horses in this area to be used as stallions.
Now that the Ma family's army is retreating, how could the two races who have been eyeing Hentian County let go of this opportunity?
Zhangye County City
"My lord, a letter from a spy from the north!"
Li Xiang picked up the letter and took a rough look at it: "Giant tree, giant banyan tree, come in!"
Cheng Jushu from outside immediately ran in: "Lord!"
"Jushu, you immediately lead the Flying Bear Army across the river to Hentian County!" Li Xiang said quickly: "Jurong, you now go to the Xiliang Cavalry Camp and take them to Hentian County!
Set out now, remember to bring enough food for ten days for each person!"
"Yes!" the two people responded, turned around and went out.
"Ma family, you are so good!" Li Xiang's hand holding the letter was a little blue. The Ma family's army might have intended to fight them at first, but when his army appeared on the land of Liangzhou, Ma's army
I have no intention of continuing to fight with him.
They placed their armies in the north and west, blocking Qiang's fortresses and other places, just to consume his food, and they did not really want to fight with them.
Now the Ma family has taken away everything in Hentian County and thrown the county away at will. Once Hentian County is captured by the Xianbei and Qiang races, the Xiliang army will not be able to gain a foothold in this grassland.
That's why he hurriedly sent the Feixiong Army and Xiliang Cavalry to the north, hoping to capture Hentian County in front of the Xianbei and Qiang ethnic groups.
Prime Minister Li summoned the generals of the Seventh Army in the city, including Zhao Tiezhu, Luo Mu, General Manager Lou Fan, etc. They represented the Seventh Army outside the Pass.
"I have called you together because I have a task to give you!" Li Xiang said straight to the point: "The Ma family has arranged for us to join forces. Now there is no Ma family army in Hentian County and it has become an empty city. I have sent Cheng Jushu
, Cheng Jurong took Feixiong and the Xiliang Iron Cavalry to Hentian County first, but there are only 30,000 troops, and I need more troops to go north.
Therefore, I want to send you to Hentian County in the north. If the Xianbei and Qiang people have taken the county seat, then you must fight back the county seat. If the county seat is still there, then guard the county seat for me!"
"Except for the Xiliang Iron Cavalry and the Flying Bear Army, there will be no other troops to support you in this battle!
Everything can only rely on you!"
Zhao Tiezhu, who was sitting in a wheelchair and unable to stand up, said: "Don't worry, my lord, we will take down Hentian City!"
"Okay!" Li Xiang looked at Zhao Tiezhu with a smile: "I'm waiting for news of your triumphant return!"
It's not that Li Xiang didn't want to send out his own army, but his own army needed to defend the Ma family's army after it withdrew from Hentian County.
There is no news about the specific direction of retreat, but the other party will never give up the remaining county town. It is the last remaining city in Zhangye County and one of the roads leading to Fufeng County.
The retreating Ma family army is likely to be stationed there. Now he has to face not only the Ma family, but also the three major families in the north, Xianbei, Qiang, and Liangzhou.
His 600,000-strong army sounds like a lot, but in fact, these troops are very few when they are allocated to various places. Especially the Eighth Army has detached some troops to garrison in various counties, towns, and other places.
The horses become scattered.
The pressure on the headquarters army increased. He needed to guard Zhangye County and wait for all the troops to consume the entire Zhangye County City before he could have enough energy to launch attacks on Fufeng and other places.
After the Guanwai army dispersed, the army set off to the north on the third day, and only the Xiliang headquarters was left in Zhangye County. Counting how long time had passed, Prime Minister Li felt a little homesick.
north
As the northernmost county of Zhangye County, Hentian County borders Xianbei, Qiang and other ethnic groups, and wars often occur.
After the Ma family's army retreated, only the original residents remained in the city.
"Chief, the Ma family's army is retreating. Those hungry wolves of the Qiang tribe will not miss this opportunity. We only have 50,000 young men at our disposal. To fight against Xianbei and the Qiang tribe, such a small number of manpower is simply not enough!"
Fifty thousand troops are huge, but for the Xianbei and Qiang people, these 50,000 people are simply not enough. Once these two races are dispatched, it will be hundreds of thousands of troops.
There are only 50,000 people in the city. How can they be a match for the opponent's hundreds of thousands of troops? They can defend it for a period of time, but what will happen after that period of defense?
Without reinforcements, they are just trapped beasts still fighting!
The people in the city were a little desperate. They had never thought about retreating with the Ma family's army, but the other side did not give them a chance. The last ones to retreat were the cavalry, and they also took away all the horses, cattle and sheep outside the city. They
Apart from the food, weapons and equipment in the city, there is nothing else.
It would take at least half a month to walk from here to the river. There are many old, weak, women and children among them.
The only thing that is good for them now is that the weather is not very cold and it is not raining. If it were winter, they would probably not be able to run.
"Have you found all the cows and horses in the hidden pasture outside?" the patriarch asked.
The young man said: "There are only eight pastures left, with 130,000 cattle, 40,000 horses, and about 210,000 sheep!"
"Okay!" A look of relief appeared on the patriarch's face: "Let the carriage be built immediately and let everyone clean up. We retreat, the sooner the better!" The patriarch Zhang Zhengwen looked at the empty city lord's palace and said: "When we leave, Remove the city gate!"
"Yes!" The others didn't know what the patriarch meant, but just listened.
The Zhang family in Hentian County is a relatively famous family in Liangzhou, a branch separated from the Central Plains of Daqian, but hundreds of years have passed.
After arriving in Hentian City, the Zhang family branched out and became the most powerful family in Hentian City. Over the past few hundred years, the family has grown into a huge family with a population of hundreds of thousands. The entire Hentian City can be called the Zhang Family City. .
Unfortunately, when the Ma family fought for the ownership of the city, they were defeated by the Ma family. This was one of the reasons why the Ma family wanted to mess with the Zhang family before leaving.
After the people in the city received the news, they packed the supplies as quickly as possible. They threw the large items that they couldn't take away into the city. They found a place to bury the food that they couldn't take away. Maybe they could use it again in the future. return.
I don’t know how long it will be before I come back.
The young people put on leather armor, mounted their war horses and became cavalry to guard both sides of the huge team. Walking at the end of the team were sheep, and the cows became vehicles. Two or three cows pulled a long carriage, and on the carriage With them were the elderly and children, and those who could walk walked on the grass.
The patriarch is very glad that it is early summer, not hot summer. The weather is not too cold, the grass is green, and the breeze is gentle. On days like this in previous years, everyone would be grazing on the grassland or planting crops in the fields.
There is a large amount of farmland on the edge of Hentian City, which was developed bit by bit by the Zhang family.
north
In a huge white tent
The Qiang people's big tent.
The Qiang people are nomadic like the grassland people on the grassland, but compared with the grassland people, their race is very small in number, and their combat effectiveness is far lower than that of the grassland people.
The total population of the Qiang people is about 30 million. Compared with the grassland people, they are not even as good as a large tribe.
The Xianbei people are the same, with a population of about 40 million. There are seven or eight other races further west, with a population of about one million. After Daqian conquered these places, the king of this race After the donation was completed, Daqian left them alone and let them live their previous lives.
When Da Qian is strong, they will be very law-abiding. Once Da Qian does something, they will go south to seize supplies, population, Liangzhou, Bingzhou, etc. The generals in border areas are promoted by the rebellion of these races. Sometimes if these races don't cause trouble, they have to force these races to make them cause trouble.
If they don't cause trouble, how can they get help from the imperial capital? The mountains are high and the roads are far away, and it's hard for soldiers and horses to get there, so just give them money and food.
This is also the way for many Liangzhou and Bingzhou families to make money, but they don't dare to go too far. If they go too far and attract the attention of the imperial capital, their destruction will be waiting for them.
If the emperor really wants to destroy them, he only needs to waste some means and energy.
"Your Majesty, the Ma family's army in Hentian City has retreated. Now only the Zhang family is left in the city!" A middle-aged man wearing dry clothes and a mustache smelled like sheep. He was very tall and looked like a man. Dao, a big man holding a huge leg of lamb and munching on it.
The big man put down the huge leg of lamb in his hand: "The Ma family army is retreating? Aren't they going to have a life-or-death showdown with the Xiliang army?"
The middle-aged man said: "Xiliang sent hundreds of thousands of troops to approach Fufeng County. The Ma family did not dare to move and could only withdraw their troops.
Your Majesty, now is our best opportunity to capture Hentian City. The entire north of Zhangye County will no longer be able to block us. The most fertile land between Zhangye County City and Hentian City will become our Qiang people. With the territory, we can cultivate more and better war horses!"
There was a bit of excitement in the middle-aged man's voice: "Perhaps all Liangzhou horses can be cultivated. This grassland will become the territory of our Qiang people, and the Xianbei people will definitely be annexed by our Qiang people!"
The man who was called the King was not dazzled by what the middle-aged man said: "It's a good idea. Will Xiliang let go of that piece of land?
Ma Jindu died among the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, I don’t think my warriors can compete with those Xiliang Iron Cavalry who can kill Ma Jin and defeat the Ma family’s cavalry!”
It's not that the king of the Qiang people is afraid, but that the Qiang people can't afford to be hurt. There is also the Xianbei people next to the Qiang people. Liangzhou and Bingzhou in the south are not the main enemies of these two races. Their enemies are the grassland races who are also the grassland army.
Because of the grassland, the two species often engage in large-scale fighting. This is also a problem that the Qiang king is worried about. If a large-scale army is sent south, the Xianbei people will not let them go.
Especially at this time, spring is a good time for grazing, and it is also the time when there is the most competition for grassland.
Most of the Qiang army was sent to the boundary between Xianbei and Qiang people, and the two sides were grazing and confronting each other.
The middle-aged man smiled and said: "Your Majesty, don't worry!
The Xianbei people are also troubled by many things. I heard that Lu Qingming, the flying general of the Lu family in Bingzhou, is wreaking havoc on the grasslands with his flying army in retaliation for the Xianbei people who went south to clear the grassland last year. Now the Xianbei tribe dare not approach the fertile grassland in Bingzhou.
They planned to mobilize a group of troops from the border to push Lu Qingming back.
Our mobilization of troops back may be in line with their wishes. Your Majesty, this opportunity cannot be missed and will not come back again. As long as Hentian City is captured, no matter how powerful the Xiliang Iron Cavalry is, can they defeat our hundreds of thousands of troops?"
The Qiang king was very moved when he heard this and looked at the middle-aged man: "Then give it a try?"
Rumble!
The Qiang cavalry rushed to Hentian City at the fastest speed. When they saw the city gate wide open and Hentian City empty of people, they separated some of their troops to continue south and some entered the city.
