From Chief to Ball

These people have been walking for ten days, nearly four hundred miles away, and they are already close to the Xirong people, and their speed is slower than before.

The heavy soldiers transporting food in the back no longer transported food from Heyin City to this side, but followed behind the troops with a small amount of food.

Originally, he could walk forty miles a day, but now he can only walk more than 20 miles. Some small troops of Xirong people began to harass along the way, and Chen Jian also searched as much as possible before passing through some densely forested places in valleys.

Echeng and Xiacheng sent troops together. Chen Jian did not have the right to command the army of Echeng. The two sides could only negotiate with each other. No one wanted to hand over the most important power to others, even if they made an oath.

"How far has it gone?"

In a car behind him, the soldier in charge of counting looked at the symbols he had drawn and said, "It's been 380 miles."

There are wooden teeth on the wheel hub of that car, and the small copper gear on it is driven by the gear rotation to determine the number of revolutions of the wheel and the distance traveled.

380 miles, and only seventy or eighty miles ahead is the Acropolis. Seeing that it was still early, Chen Jian stopped the car and shouted for wolf skin.

"Take your riders and harass the Xirong people. If possible, send a few people to rush into the acropolis, tell the acropolis that we are coming, and let them concentrate their troops and prepare for the expedition. But they can't rush. It doesn't matter if you go in, but you must let the Xirong people feel the threat of cavalry."

Wolf Piqi said: "If we hide the cavalry, and when we fight the Xirong people, rely on the speed of the cavalry to shake their flanks, they will be hard to defend, isn't it better?"

Chen Jian laughed and said, "This time, the cavalry is not the protagonist... Just like the scene performed by Shi Qi, the man is very important, but he is not the protagonist, and neither is your cavalry."

Wolfpi was a little disappointed, but still asked: "What should I do? Or, what I want to do, what do I want to do to the people of Xirong?"

"Let the Xirong people realize that the horses are fast and can easily go around to the side; let them know that the horses can charge, let them know that standing together densely can resist the impact of the horses, it is best to charge them once, let them The closer you stand, the better."

Wolfpi thought for a moment, nodded and said, "I see."

After he left with the scouts who were not on guard, Chen Jian stopped the team, discussed with E Yue, and decided to rest here today.

Before the sun set, Langpi sent someone back to tell Chen Jian that he had already met the Xirong people.

The person sent back replied: "In the afternoon, we met a small group of Xirong people. They were a little afraid of our horses and wanted to run away. The men who had split the wolf skin in half went around behind them. We charged once with javelins and spears. , They scattered and ran away. The wolf skin did not chase after us, and after leading us to regroup, we found that the Xirong people had sent troops, and they were only more than 20 miles away from us."

After hearing the report from the side, E Yue said: "It seems that the Xirong people are worried about attacking their rear after the decisive battle of the acropolis under the city, and they probably separated some people to surround the acropolis. Beat us?"

"It should be like this."

Chen Jian agreed with E Yue's opinion, and asked the rider, "Approximately how many people are there in Xirong?"

"There are 5000 people. We saw from a distance that wolf skins took us around a few times on purpose. They stopped and shot us with bows and arrows. There were quite a few of them. They wore all kinds of animal skins. Ocher is smeared on it, as if there were some mountain beasts."

"After seeing you go around, how did they deal with it?"

"The archers are at the front, and the rest of the people are in a dense team. The line is very thick and dense, and we can't break through. They move very slowly. When they see us around the back, they don't pursue them, so they stop there. Langpi said that these people must They have fought many battles, and they also have the tail fur of some wild beasts as flags, as well as horns, and they are not the kind of chaotic tribe."

After asking a few more questions, Chen Jian asked him to rest first. It seems that the number of Xirong people is far more than six to seven thousand, and the number of slaves who took up arms will be even more. It is still possible.

"It seems that we will meet the Xirong people the day after tomorrow at the latest. Will they fight us? Or will they stick to it? If we get stuck in a valley or something like that, we won't be able to hold on for too long."

Chen Jian shook his head, expressing that he didn't know either.

Early the next morning, when the mist had not cleared, the scouts sent back brought back a Xirong man, wearing a silk dress that was probably looted. This was not a prisoner, but an envoy sent by the Xirong people.

There was a terrible scar on the messenger's face, which made the corners of his mouth look hideous.

The envoy knew the language of Dahe, and after finding Chen Jian and E Yue, he said bluntly: "The chief sent me to ask if you are going to be our enemy? If so, I have a few words to say to the two of you." Listen, chief."

Chen Jian found that his words were good and his words were very clear. Although his hair was disheveled, some of his behaviors were not like those of Xirong people. He was a little strange, so he nodded and said, "Tell me."

The man bowed and said: "Acropolis and Xirong are blood feuds. They have fought for more than ten years. The father of the leader died in the hands of the Acropolis people. Many people were robbed as slaves. This hatred is like a green pine on the top of a mountain. The wind will not bend it." , the snow is constantly pressing, and it cannot be changed.”

"You two clans are far away from the Acropolis. Rescuing the Acropolis will not do any good, and it will also arouse our resentment. The hatred for the Acropolis will be added to you."

"If you two clans attack the Acropolis together with us, then we can have half the population and food of the Acropolis. You come from the river in the north, and we swear that we will never cross that river."

"Hua has been dead for 20 years. No one has kept the agreement of those relatives and barbarians. Even if they do not obey, there will be no punishment. Some tribes on the south bank of the river also asked the rest of the Xirong tribes to use soldiers to attack their former relatives. There is no punishment, but the land and population are expanding. As a leader, he does not consider his own tribe, but wants to make other tribes stronger, which should not be."

Chen Jian shook his head and said: "Your words do not convince me. Acropolis and we are brothers and relatives. Even if you say that some tribes did not abide by the original oath, we will still abide by it. And those tribes who did not abide by the oath will be If there is a chance, I will also attack them and let them know the price of not keeping the oath."

The man snorted and said, "Brothers? I heard from those slaves who escaped from the Acropolis that your surname is Ji. However, Ji was not among the 71 relatives who swore at the beginning. You are not brothers and relatives."

Chen Jian blushed slightly. With Xia Cheng's current status, this excuse was indeed a bit of a big banner.Fortunately, E Yue answered, "My surname is E. I can still bear the words of brother and relative."

The man nodded and said: "Indeed, Silk Silk's E is indeed the 71 relatives who swore at the beginning. But even if they are relatives, so what? They exiled me and even wanted to kill me, so I ran to Xirong. Is it true that sworn relatives are not as good as brothers? Brothers are like this, let alone these sworn relatives?"

He raised his head and looked at Chen Jian and E Yue. E Yue seemed to be recalling some distant past. Looking at the face of the envoy with scars all over his face, he did not know what he remembered. He glanced at this person in surprise, but did not speak. I probably guessed who this is or what kind of story this is, but it doesn't matter.

Chen Jian didn't recall, nor was he qualified to recall, but he said firmly: "There is no need to say anything more, we have made an oath before going out, and we will not withdraw our troops."

The man nodded, bowed and saluted, and said: "Since this is the case, then your surnames Ji and E will be the sworn enemies of the Xirong people in the future. The blood of our descendants will be stained on each other's swords and will never be washed away. Since If you want to fight, then fight. Fifteen miles to the south, the land is open, and it can be used as a battlefield, so that blood can be shed earlier, and heaven and earth can decide victory or defeat."

After he finished speaking, he turned around and left. Several people wanted to stop him, but Chen Jian waved his hand and said, "Let him go back."

E Yue sneered and said, "This kind of person has forgotten his blood, do you pity him?"

"No."

"Then he should be killed. I'm afraid the Xirong people's methods of planting millet, military formations, and horns are all passed down by him. I know who he is, but I don't pity him."

Chen Jian laughed and said: "He has hatred in his heart, and hatred is the only thing he can rely on to live, and the hope of revenge is those Xirong people. Kill him, and the hatred will disappear with his death; if you don't kill him, let him see it with his own eyes." Watching his hope of revenge turn into ashes under the attacks of our two clans, this is more interesting than killing him. Since he said that tomorrow will be a decisive battle, pass on the order to share bacon tonight, have a full meal, and tomorrow will be a decisive battle , to meet Xirong!"

The order was delivered by the messenger, and the camp was full of cheers. Chen Jian turned back and said to E Yue: "What he can teach the Xirong people, he has already taught. The rest of the Xirong people can't learn even if they want to. It doesn't matter whether you kill him or not." It doesn't matter."

E Yue sighed, and then asked: "The people of Xirong asked me to wait for a decisive battle tomorrow, what trick do they have?"

Chen Jian called the scouts. The scouts recalled and said: "It is indeed a flat land fifteen miles away, but there are swamps and mud to the west and a rocky mountain to the east. There is no ambush. It seems that there can be no tricks."

When E Yue was still frowning and thinking, Chen Jian said with a smile: "Don't think about it, asking us to fight tomorrow is the biggest trick."

"How to say?"

"There are many people in Xirong, but we are few, and we are exhausted from the expedition. However, we have horses, we face the swamp in the west, and the rocky mountains in the east. Neither side can ambush, nor can the cavalry maneuver around. There is no need for any tricks, and being able to fight us upright is the biggest trick."

E Yue said sadly: "The battle of the valley and the battle of Yangguan, I have heard a lot about Ji Xia's victory in these two battles. Jixia used ambushes in the woods in the battle of the valley, and the battle of Yangguan was done with wolf skins and others." Ji Xia, the bait, led people to attack the rear of the tribes in the grassland. Both battles used tricks. This time, the battlefield chosen by the Xirong people was difficult to use tricks, and they couldn't go around the rear to make a surprise attack. They could only rely on the army to fight and bleed the tribe... "

He sighed and said: "The soldiers of your and my tribe are brave, and Jixia has eight chariots. The impact on the battlefield may not be invincible, but we don't have chariots, so we can only guard Jixia's rear, and we need to attack the Xirong people." Rely on Jixia."

Chen Jian smiled and nodded, "It should be like this."

E Yue was taken aback, she didn't expect Chen Jian to agree so happily, but she felt a little strange in her heart.In the first two battles, Chen Jian used the method of ambush to go around or concentrate his troops to break through.But the battlefield chosen by the Xirong people this time cannot use these methods. It is obvious that it depends on the number of people to fight a war of attrition. The casualties are also 600. The Xirong people can still fight, but the two cities may collapse...

"How will Jixia fight this battle?"

The art of war is constantly improving with the times. In this era, there has not been a world of great disputes among nations, and strategic ideas such as attacking the east and attacking the west, encircling Wei and saving Zhao have not appeared, and the two sides are still mainstream.

Because even a long-distance march is a huge test for the army of this era. Almost no army in a city has such organizational power. A long-term expedition is unbearable for any side. The battle will last for a long time, and it will not be until hundreds of years of disputes among the nations that various intrigues and tricks will evolve.

In the early morning of the next day, when the troops of Xia'e's two cities advanced ten miles, the scouts in front reported that the army of Xirong people was a few miles away.