Chinese New Year

Chapter 600 Hope of Breaking the Situation

On the fourth day of the ninth month in the ninth year of the Yongjia reign of the Jin Dynasty (315), on the bank of the Heng River (now the Tang River) in Zhongshan State.

Feather arrows were flying around on the river surface, and from time to time someone would be shot and fall to the ground, screaming in pain.

There were also powerful crossbows stationed on the west side of the river. Every time they were fired, there was a huge "buzzing" sound. The thick crossbow arrows carried a thousand-pound force and penetrated the grass on the other side of the river, knocking down a group of soldiers holding large shields to the ground.

On the half-built floating bridge, cheers shook the sky and arrows rained down.

The body fell into the river like dumplings and soon sank.

On the west bank of the Hengshui River, more than a hundred brave vanguards had rushed over, but before they could form a formation, they were dispersed by the swiftly charging Hun cavalry.

They did not collapse, but fought in groups of three or five with the Hun cavalry.

On the floating bridge, reinforcements rushed over with roars.

The crossbows and bows and arrows on the shore were firing non-stop, harvesting lives indiscriminately.

The Xiongnu soldiers on the west bank of the river also knew that it was a critical moment. Liu Zheng, who had retreated from Hejian, led the way and rushed over with thousands of infantrymen, charging in turns.

The people on the east bank of the river also became anxious and sent in their best soldiers and generals. They braved the attacks of crossbows and powerful bows and advanced bravely with their large shields raised.

For a time, the sounds of killing were deafening on both sides of the river. Thousands of soldiers from both sides gambled their lives and fought to the death on both sides of the Heng River.

By the evening, with the help of the Xiongnu's light and heavy cavalry, Liu Zheng finally thwarted the Jin army's attempt to force a crossing of the Hengshui River. He completely defeated them and drove them to the other side of the river.

A moment later, a huge fire broke out on the floating bridge, indicating the end of today's fighting.

Both sides retreated more than a hundred steps and licked their wounds in the camp.

Liu Zheng wiped the blood off his face and slumped to the ground. He was so engrossed in the fight that he was exhausted.

At his feet was the corpse of a Jin soldier, who should be the elite soldier who had forced the crossing earlier.

He was wearing a shining silver armor, with an unstrung bow on his left waist, and an empty scabbard on his right, with the broken knife lying nearby.

The corpse still had the spear tightly clenched in his hand. The soldiers who were cleaning up the battlefield could not pry it open no matter how hard they tried. In the end, they could only cut off his fingers to get out the spear.

This is Shao Ze’s Silver Spear Army.

They formed a formation at the bridgehead like a hedgehog, which was very difficult to deal with. If it weren't for the repeated attacks of light and heavy cavalry and the siege of infantry, there would be no way to deal with them. In the end, they were eliminated at the cost of a lot of lives, alas.

A strong wind blew on the river, and white waves surged.

There were corpses floating down from upstream, including human corpses and even corpses of war horses.

These should be soldiers from both sides who died in a battle in a section of the river upstream a few days ago. They sank to the bottom of the river and then floated up again - of course, if they were wearing armor, they would have stayed at the bottom of the river in the dark and been eaten by fish.

"Splash!" The sound of splashing water was heard in the distance.

Liu Zheng turned his head and saw a group of Xiongnu cavalry rushing into the river to test the depth of the water.

Next to them, there were soldiers holding bamboo poles to measure the water depth.

"Hey!" Liu Zheng smiled bitterly.

The people sent by King Zhongshan were really daring. They actually wanted to cross the river and fight back, but Old Liu didn't think of doing so.

It would be good enough to hold the Hengshui defense line and save Zhongshan County City. He even didn't know how long this long defense line could be held. The enemy would take a detour. If they couldn't attack here, they would naturally choose another place to cross the river - perhaps they were already doing so now.

After recovering, Liu Zheng stood up, leaning on the scabbard, and silently looked at the other side of the Hengshui River.

Half of Zhongshan, Gaoyang and Hejian east of the Hengshui River were completely lost, and Zhangwu would probably not be able to hold out for long.

The fight has now come to a life-and-death moment, and the only option is to fight hard.

******
Just as Liu Zheng heard the Xiongnu cavalry stepping into the river, somewhere upstream of the Hengshui River, a large group of cavalry were wading through the water.

They moved slowly and cautiously, crossing the shallows in groups.

The soldiers who had crossed the river immediately scattered and kept watch from a distance.

The following soldiers gathered near the river bank. Their numbers increased, one hundred, two hundred, five hundred, one thousand...

In the end, even the pack horses carrying equipment, water and tools crossed the river, and the leading general breathed a sigh of relief.

The auxiliary soldiers got off their horses and immediately began to set up camp.

There are formal and rough camps.

The formal ones are like cities, while the crude ones are just tents, deer horns and chevaux de frise.

The rangers spread out further, dozens of miles away, taking turns to be on guard.

The rest of the people washed the horses, got some food and water, and maintained the equipment.

Every wrong step in war may bring about a catastrophic disaster and must not be taken lightly.

They were lucky and encountered no enemies the whole night.

On the second day, more than 2,000 well-fed and energetic volunteers left the camp, each with three horses, and galloped towards the southwest.

On the seventh day of September, the entire army arrived at Shangquyang (now Quyang)...

The dull sound of horse hooves galloped like thunder.

Ruthless arrows were hurled out.

The thick and long horse spear is thirsty for blood.

The marching infantry were instantly thrown into chaos.

There were more than 3,000 of them in total, who were recruited by Shi Le and went to Shangquyang County to join his troops and wait for the next order.

From the color of their uniforms, it can be seen that this is a temporary group of peasant soldiers.

Farmers and peasant soldiers are different.

The peasant soldiers who were given land and houses by Shi Le had experienced many battles and had uniform military uniforms and sophisticated weapons. Many of them also had iron and leather armor, and they were well trained.

The only difference between them and the conscripted soldiers is that they usually work on the farm at home and only train or go into battle in their spare time, so they have considerable combat effectiveness.

But these people in front of them were obviously not like that. They were real farmers, the kind with very inadequate training. Even though Hebei was a mixed population of Hu and Han people, and they were used to horses, they were still panicked when they saw a large group of cavalry charging.

There were a few strong soldiers in the team, who, under the command of the officers, surrounded the baggage wagons and put up a desperate resistance. But the miscellaneous soldiers, numbering more than 3,000, were making a lot of noise and were at a loss.

If he wanted to escape, Shi Le’s military discipline would be strict and he would most likely be beheaded and his family would be implicated.

I want to fight, but I don't have the courage. I was carrying a hoe at home a few days ago, and now you want me to chop people with a knife?

So he froze there.

However, when the first wave of arrows fell, the deterrent effect of military law was greatly reduced.

Being killed as a deserter is scary, but you have to catch me too!
Not to mention, if he didn't flee now, he would die immediately. If he fled, he might still be able to survive - what if the Da Hu were destroyed by Shao Xun? Not to mention that it was impossible, the wife he left in Yecheng was probably giving birth to a child for Shao Xun.

More than 3,000 people immediately dispersed and fled into the nearby mountains.

Hundreds of soldiers hiding in the baggage carts were almost collapsed. They looked at each other, their faces pale.

Yi Congjun rushed over.

The horse archers laughed and circled the baggage train, preparing to enjoy a delicious meal.

The sound of horse hooves was heard again from the southwest.

The faces of the Yicong Army soldiers who were dispersing their formation changed. The Huns were coming.

The sound of drums and horns resounded throughout the land, and the flags changed continuously. More than 2,000 cavalrymen slowly gathered together and prepared for battle.

The scattered Shi Le infantry cried for joy, but were also trembling with fear.

The officers also calmed down, and they took them into custody by beating and scolding them, and began to organize them into a team.

Since you have managed to escape, you should quickly throw yourself into the next battle and fight with all your might until you die in battle to be completely relieved.

******
"Here, here, and here." In Zhending City, Shi Le's fingers were pointing here and there on the map.

Large groups of Jin cavalry were discovered in Xiaquyang, Weichang and other places.

What does this mean? It means that the troops led by the bandit general Jin Zhengtong were not stopped by the Hengshui River. At least their cavalry had found a place to cross the river - and perhaps their infantry as well.

The Hengshui defense line can only stop them for a period of time, but over time, it will eventually be breached.

After all, it’s still because of insufficient military strength.

King Yao of Zhongshan only brought two groups of troops.

The first batch of more than 7,000 infantry and cavalry arrived earlier, mainly from Fengyi Qiang and Di, Shangjun Xianbei, and Xiongnu, and they are currently defending Hengshui. In addition to the thousands of infantrymen who fled from Hejian and Gaoyang, as well as soldiers recruited from Zhongshan, the total force is more than 30,000.

The second batch was led by the King of Zhongshan himself. In addition to 10,000 Xiongnu cavalry, there were also several thousand Shangdang miscellaneous Hu cavalry and Jin people's infantry from Taiyuan and other counties, totaling 16,000 to 17,000 people.

To be honest, Shi Le had no idea what the King of Zhongshan was doing, nor did he know what the imperial court was doing.

In the crucial battle that determined the fate of Hebei, the imperial court sent only about 24,000 infantry and cavalry to reinforce.

As for these 24,000 infantry and cavalry, not all of them were put into battle. At least 10,000 cavalry were held in Liu Yao's hands and stationed in the foothills north of Zhending. It was said that they were guarding against the Tuoba Xianbei of Dai County moving south, or even Wang Jun of Youzhou crossing the Yishui River and attacking Changshan in the south - this county was a place that Shi Le and Wang Jun had repeatedly fought over.

"Has there been a reply from the King of Zhongshan?" Shi Le asked without turning his head when he heard footsteps coming in.

"No." Diao Ying, who had just returned from Youzhou last month, replied.

"Why is there so much noise outside?" Shi Le asked again.

"Just now, General Kui led his troops out of the city, defeated the Jin bandits, and burned more than ten of their siege weapons. The soldiers on the city walls cheered for him." Diao Ying replied.

"Yeah." Shi Le nodded and continued to study the map, as if he could see something.

Diao Ying also looked at the mountains and rivers of Changshan in the picture.

The rebel general Li Chong led 30,000 troops to the south of the city. After setting up camp, they made siege weapons and began to attack the city. It has been several days now.

This is the Jin army attacking from south to north.

Another bandit general, Jin Zheng, is marching from east to west, taking over Hejian and Gaoyang counties, but is now blocked in the Hengshui area of ​​Zhongshan County. If he breaks through this defense line and takes over Zhongshan County, he can advance to the east of Changshan City, and then the two Jin bandits will meet.

The situation on the battlefield is very clear.

At this point, neither side could do anything fancy, and the only option left was a head-on battle.

The Dahu did not have many soldiers under their control - there were only about 10,000 infantry and 3,000 to 4,000 cavalry in Changshan and its surrounding areas.

If the war is not going well, many people will not be willing to fight.

Before Li Chong and Jin Zheng sent out their troops, the Da Hu could still muster at least 12,000 to 13,000 cavalrymen. However, not long after the war broke out, this number quickly dropped to 7,000 to 8,000—not because they died in battle, but because the leaders were unwilling to risk their lives.

The combined forces of Da Hu and the King of Zhongshan only had a little over 40,000 soldiers and horses, which was only comparable to the Jin army.

The strength is obviously at a disadvantage.

Fortunately, so far, with the continuous contraction of the front line, the strength of troops in various places has gradually increased, and there is a glimmer of hope to stabilize the front line.

At least, Li Chong could not take over Zhending City, and they did not plan to retreat easily this time.

At least, Zhongshan County was still fighting desperately against the Jin people, and the battle situation was very stalemate.

At least, there is still hope for Zhang Wu——

"How are the Duan tribe of Xianbei doing? Is there any news coming back?" Shi Le indeed asked about this.

"It was reported once five days ago." Diao Ying said, "Duan Shefu Chen also went south and defeated Shao's troops in Shuzhou, beheading more than a thousand of them, but no one knows where he is now."

Shi Le's gaze fell towards the direction of Zhangwu again.

If the Xianbei could break through, break through, and break through again along the empty rear of the Jin army, the situation would be greatly improved.

Yesterday, the King of Zhongshan sent a general with several thousand elite cavalry to march eastward, intending to break through the possible blockade of the Jin people and suddenly reach Zhangwu to join forces with Linghu Ni's troops. If they can arrive smoothly, the situation on the war may see a turning point - this is the news he has been waiting for.

But this large-scale penetration is actually very difficult, because the Jin people also have a large number of cavalry, and they may not be able to arrive smoothly.

Now the real hope of breaking the impasse still lies with the Duan tribe of Xianbei.

(End of this chapter)