after being kidnapped by the general

The Xiongnu always liked to invade the Central Plains in autumn, because in autumn they had a spring and autumn recuperation, and both men and horses were fat and strong.

After autumn, the grassland plants will wither, the weather is cold, and people and livestock have nothing to eat. If they want to survive the winter, the Xiongnu will invade the Central Plains and plunder the wintering materials and women's wealth in the Central Plains.

Half a month ago, the reason why Chu Hechao planned to bring the army back to northern Xinjiang was because he was worried that the Xiongnu and Xianbei would take the opportunity to attack.

There are white rice crowds raging in Youzhou. In order to calm down the white rice crowd, Chu Hechao took away 13 of the 8 army in northern Xinjiang, and Yuan Congyun took away [-].This took away [-] troops, and now only [-] are stationed in northern Xinjiang.

But the Baimi people in Youzhou had to be calmed down, so before sending troops to quell the Baimi people in Youzhou, Chu Hechao had already made preparations for the Huns to invade in autumn.

He has already figured out the law of the Huns' invasion of the border, and he is also familiar with how to deal with nomads, so he deployed defenses on the border in advance and achieved good results.

But now, late autumn has passed, and early winter is coming. This year's cold air came very early, people are not ready yet, the first snow has fallen, and the Huns who haven't looted enough food are finally in a hurry.They used to come to plunder in small ways, but this time the Xiongnu Shanyu Huyan Wuzhu assembled [-] cavalry and went south in one fell swoop, preparing to plunder the grain of the states and counties in one go to prepare for the winter.

After the scout finished talking about the urgent situation in northern Xinjiang, Chu Hechao led his people and left at a faster speed.

The figure of Dajun hurriedly disappeared at the end of the road.

The snow fell more and more heavily, and Yuan Li watched them gradually disappear in front of the mansion gate.He pursed his lips, turned around and said to Liu Jixin: "Changyue, you go to Cai Ji, the governor of Guangyang County, and ask him to notify the frontier counties and counties to strengthen the city walls, call the county soldiers, and make preparations to defend the city. "

If the Xiongnu can break through the Great Wall, it will be these frontier counties that will suffer.

Fortunately, these counties and counties on the frontier of Youzhou have already experienced the Xiongnu Xianbei's invasion, and as long as they are notified, they can quickly prepare.

Liu Jixin took the order to leave.

Yuan Li returned to the study with the rest of the people, Wang Er and Wu Kai looked at each other, doubtful.They have been with Yuan Li for a long time, knowing that they can ask Yuan Li for advice if they don't understand, so they asked: "My lord, will the Xiongnu cross the Great Wall?"

The two of them came from bad backgrounds, and now they can read and write little by little, but they still don't have enough knowledge of thinking and combat deployment.Just like the Great Wall that is repaired and protected every year in the frontier, they are very puzzled by this.They all know that the Great Wall exists to resist foreign enemies, but why even with the Great Wall, Hu Yao can repeatedly invade the border?

Yuan Li asked calmly, "Have you ever seen the Great Wall with your own eyes?"

Both shook their heads.

"The Great Wall stretches for thousands of miles, some of which are built among the mountains and the majestic passes. These places are easy to defend and difficult to attack. But there are also parts built on flat land. These checkpoints are extremely fragile and are often broken by the enemy," Yuan Li said, "If the Xiongnu ran out of food, even if they couldn't break through the Great Wall, they would bypass the Great Wall and plunder the people in the border villages."

Wang Er was even more puzzled, "If this is the case, why do we need to build the city wall and spend a lot of money and manpower every year to repair the city wall? Isn't this time-consuming and laborious?"

Yuan Li shook his head, "The Great Wall Canal, the merits of thousands of years."

The Great Wall passes through passes, military forts, pass cities and military towns, connecting these into a tight defense network.Once any place is breached, the soldiers defending the city will light a beacon to convey the military situation and ask for reinforcements.

Nomads can cross the Great Wall, but animal power cannot cross the Great Wall.Even if they break into a checkpoint in the Great Wall and enter the Central Plains, they can only run away after grabbing it.This is like building a wall around a pond. The number of people who can climb over the wall to steal fish is limited, and the number of fish that can be stolen is even more limited, because if they want to take the fish and go out over the wall, they are destined to get There are not many things to go.

The Great Wall blocked the way for the barbarians to supply their supplies, so as long as the soldiers stationed on the Great Wall blocked their retreat, they could be trapped inside the Great Wall and completely defeated.

Not only that, the Great Wall also separated the various forces on the grassland, increasing the cost of their invasion of the pass.If the nomads can't break through the Great Wall, they can only attack other tribes on the grassland.

The Great Wall also made it impossible for the nomads to obtain the land, resources, and weapons crafting technology of the Central Plains for a long time. They stayed on the grassland where they lived barbarously forever, while the people inside the Great Wall continued to develop civilization and their weapons continued to become stronger.

This is the meaning of the existence of the Great Wall.

After Yuanli explained the functions of the Great Wall to them one by one, Wang Er and Wu Kai suddenly realized, "I understand. Then the Xiongnu Shanyu is determined to break into the Great Wall and plunder counties this time."

Yuan Li nodded and sighed, "I'm afraid they already know about the chaos in the Northern Zhou Dynasty."

Once there is chaos going south, the barbarians in the north will definitely invade.They have been coveting the land of the Central Plains for a long time, trying to enter the Central Plains to grab fertile land and resources.Chu Hechao is well-known in northern Xinjiang and can deter these nomads.They didn't make any big troubles all autumn, and now that winter is about to come, they came to attack, probably because they knew that there was an uprising among the people in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and they wanted to take advantage of the fire to loot.

Yuanli thought a lot, but knew that they had to win the battle of the Huns.

The Northern Zhou Dynasty is currently experiencing civil strife, and if foreign aggression is added, Youzhou will bear the brunt of it.If Youzhou was really invaded by the Huns, who would come to help Chu Hechao in the entire Northern Zhou Dynasty?

Is it the overwhelmed imperial court?Or the princes who support their own troops?

I'm afraid that at that time, the enemy will be left and right, and perhaps it may cause the tragedy of the chaos in history again.

This is absolutely impossible!

Yuanli opened his eyes suddenly, his eyes were sharp.

Regardless of this battle, they must win!

The Huns are very strong, they have many powerful cavalry, and riding horses is commonplace for them.At this time, [-] cavalry can be summoned to go south in one fell swoop. It is conceivable how powerful this is.

Looking at Chu Hechao again, Chu Hechao's entire army has only [-] cavalry, which cannot be compared at all.

What's more, the nomads outside the Great Wall are cold-resistant and can endure the harsh environment. It is more beneficial for them to fight in cold weather.However, the Huns are not without weaknesses. Their cavalry is not equipped with complete stirrups and saddles. If compared with well-trained cavalry equipped with stirrups, they will definitely be inferior.

But here comes the problem again. Even if Yuanli made stirrups, he only gave Chu Hechao [-] pieces. Even if he made [-] stirrups for the [-] cavalry, the cavalry had not practiced how to equip them. The stirrup's horse combat skills still have no chance of winning against the Huns cavalry.

No matter how you look at it, why do you think this battle is going to be bad.

Yuan Li stood up and said in a deep voice: "I have something for you to do, you go and help me find these things."

He told Wu Kai and Wang Er what he wanted.Although the two didn't know what Yuanli wanted these things for, they didn't ask any further questions and nodded obediently.

When Yuanli was making ice with saltpeter, he thought of monosulfur, dinitrate, and charcoal.

This is the recipe for black powder.

However, due to the backwardness of ancient industrial technology and the development of the times, there is no supporting metallurgical hardware. Even if black powder can be produced, the power of black powder cannot be exerted. Black powder that cannot be mass-produced or widely used is better equipped with A large number of bows and arrows pose a great threat, so Yuanli has never thought about it.

But at this moment, Yuanli felt that getting out black powder to deal with the Xiongnu might achieve unexpected results.

He remembered that it was written in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" that Zhuge Liang used landmines when dealing with rattan armored soldiers. The landmines used bamboo poles to connect the joints to guide the medicine thread. Once activated, the mountains would be damaged and rocks would be cracked.

Yuan Li didn't know how much artistic content was in it, but he knew that even if he couldn't produce the explosive power that black powder should have, he could still make the explosion sound of black powder.

As long as the momentum is strong enough, it can achieve the effect of the "Thunderbolt Cannon" of the Northern Song Dynasty*.The nomads had never seen such a weapon, nor had their horses seen such a weapon, and if the noise of the black powder was loud enough and its presence sufficiently menacing, they would be terrified.People are afraid of the unknown. Once they are afraid, they will lose their will to fight and fall into panic. Horses will also be frightened and run wild.

At this time, the cavalry of the Huns is not to be feared.

Just do it, Yuanli immediately started to configure black powder.

Compared with others, Yuanli is a professional. He knows better than anyone how to configure black powder, how to make lead wires, and how long lead wires should be.And sulfur charcoal can also be found in Youzhou, and a lot of them have been found.

He was busy for a few days by himself. In the few days, except Wang Er and Wu Kai came to give him the raw materials of black powder, only Zhao Ying came to ask him how to deal with the Jiuding Mountain bandits.

Yuan Li said directly: "Let them clean up the excrement in the city to make fertilizer, and use it for the potatoes I cultivated."

Yuanli used to make chemical fertilizers in the farms of Ruyang County, and Zhao Ying also knew what kind of process it was. He sympathized with the bandits in his heart for a moment, and said without hesitation: "Yes, don't worry, my lord. The subordinates will definitely Take care of those potatoes."

Yuanli still had great trust in Zhao Ying's ability to handle affairs, so he nodded, letting Zhao Ying do it with confidence.

Soon, Yuanli prepared the black powder. He asked people to prepare a bamboo pole, poured the black powder into the bamboo pole and introduced the medicine thread, and brought the staff to a remote open space to test the power of the black powder.

The effect was exactly as Yuanli had imagined. Without the supporting hard conditions for steel smelting, the power of black powder was greatly reduced.But in terms of sound and momentum, it was really like a thunderbolt, thick smoke billowed, and as soon as it exploded, everyone present was startled, Wang Er and Wu Kai even subconsciously stepped forward to protect Yuanli, "Be careful, my lord!"

After the explosion stopped, everyone had a more or less frightened look on their faces.They looked at the place where the explosion occurred, their expressions even a little shivering.

Even Liu Jixin was so frightened that his eyes froze.

Yuan Li knew at this moment that he had succeeded.

He pushed Wang Er and Wu Kai away, looked at the black gunpowder that was billowing in smoke and dust and fell to the ground with pieces of bamboo poles, and smiled.

Next, Yuanli led people to make hundreds of thousands of black gunpowder bamboo poles in a hurry, and requisitioned the name of gunpowder in the Northern Song Dynasty in advance, and named them "thunderbolt guns".

Because he didn't know how the battle was going on at the front line, Yuanli didn't waste any time. After preparing enough thunderbolt guns, Yuanli sent his own five hundred cavalry to put on black armor, bring spears and swords, and escort the thunderbolt guns fully armed. Go to northern Xinjiang.

Northern Xinjiang was only two or three days away from Youzhou on horseback, Yuanli personally sent the cavalry outside Ji County, led by Wu Kai.

Before leaving, Wu Kai asked: "Do you have something for me to bring to the general?"

"Let him fight this battle well," Yuan Li said bluntly, "If he can still lose with Thunderbolt Cannon, I don't think he should go back to Youzhou."

Wu Kai had an intuition that saying this to Chu Hechao would offend the general, but he still said honestly, "Yes."

Yuan Li couldn't help laughing, exhaled a dirty breath, and said seriously: "Tell him, take advantage of the victory to pursue and beat the Xiongnu to flee north. If possible, it is best to kill the Xiongnu Shanyu Huyan Wuzhu."

Wu Kai clasped his fists and replied in a deep voice, "Yes!"

After speaking, he got on his horse and rode away with five hundred cavalry.

The first snow only fell for a short day, and it stopped before it had fallen much.

This is undoubtedly good news for the northern Xinjiang army.

In the past few days, the Xiongnu have been provoking the northern Xinjiang army outside the Great Wall, and from time to time they tried to break into the Great Wall checkpoints from all sides.The cavalry team who went out to inspect the Great Wall and search for information about the enemy also faced off against the forward team of the Huns many times. Both sides suffered casualties. The generals Mi Yang, Xin Zhou, and Duan Yuquan who stayed in the northern border broke out in cold sweat several times. .

When Chu Hechao returned to northern Xinjiang with 5000 people, the generals stationed in northern Xinjiang were relieved.

It wasn't the fifteen thousand soldiers who came back that made them feel relieved, but Chu Hechao, who had settled down.

After the Xiongnu Shanyu outside the Great Wall learned that Chu Hechao had also returned, he no longer continued his small-scale probing methods. Instead, he sent cavalry to shout battles not far from the Great Wall, and instead shouted arrogantly.

This does not mean that the Xiongnu is just a brainless idiot. On the contrary, Huyan Wuzhu is a very ambitious leader. Even though he is old, he has never given up his greedy heart of coveting the Central Plains.He seemed to be clamoring for Chu Hechao, but he was actually testing Bei Zhou's current strength.

Once Chu Hechao did not dare to face the enemy head-on, it would expose the fact that Bei Zhou's current strength had been greatly reduced, and it would also reveal that the Baimi crowd in Youzhou had consumed too much of Chu Hechao's energy.And in front of such a hungry wolf-like enemy, once he exposed his weakness, he would be attacked and bitten to death in an instant.

And such scolding will also greatly affect the morale of Chu Hechao's army.

If your own general is insulted and provoked like this, but dare not fight back, the fighting spirit of the soldiers will become more and more depressed, and even show their defeat before fighting.

Chu Hechao was very clear about the purpose of Huyan Wuzhu's provocation. He maintained an extraordinary calmness and did not respond to Huyan Wuzhu's provocation. Instead, he ordered his subordinates to distribute food to appease the army.

Afterwards, Chu Hechao and the generals began to discuss how to deal with Huyan Wuzhu.

"Huyan Wuzhu must not have come here just to plunder winter food," Chu Hechao asked to bring up the map, and pointed his fingers at several passes and military forts along the Great Wall. "These places can increase our troops. ?”

Zhonglang general Duan Yuquan clasped his fists and said, "Return to the general, more soldiers have been sent to garrison these places."

Chu Hechao nodded, "Did the scouts sent outside the Great Wall bring any news about the enemy?"

"Our scouts discovered that Huyan Wuzhu came with his two sons," Duan Yuquan pointed to the east and west sides of the map, "Huyan Wuzhu said that he led 2 cavalry, but in fact he The cavalry in his hands was only about 1. His eldest son Huyanting led [-] cavalry stationed on the east side three hundred miles away, while his second son Huyan Huntu led [-] cavalry stationed four hundred miles away. on the west side."

Chu Hechao smiled, "This is a three-sided attack."

"Huyan Wuzhu is a traitor!" Zhong Lang, who is short but short-tempered, slammed Mi Yang on the table, cursed and uttered a lot of obscenities, "I know he has no good intentions!"

"You can calm down a little bit," Yang Zhongfa rolled his eyes angrily, "I think you can't wait to run to the Great Wall to scold Huyan Wuzhu."

"Haven't you ever scolded me?" Mi Yang blew his beard and stared, "If the two of them hadn't stopped me, I would have gone to fight them hard!"

Xinzhou and Duan Yuquan who were pointed at by him didn't bother to talk to him.

Chu Hechao said, "Okay."

Mi Yang shut his mouth angrily.

Mi Yang is brave, full of courage, fearless, and he can be said to be a fierce general under Chu Hechao's command.But his temper is too strong, which can be regarded as just a little bit, and he can't stand the slightest provocation from the enemy.

Chu Hechao was afraid that he would be too reckless, so he left Duan Yuquan, who was cautious and gentle, and Xinzhou, who was resolute and resolute, to stay with him in northern Xinjiang.

The generals discussed for a long time in the camp, and in the afternoon, someone reported outside again, "General, the Xiongnu Chanyu has sent people to the Great Wall to shout and scold again!"

Chu Hechao let him in, and asked casually, "What did he scold again?"

Anger appeared on the soldier's face, "I scold you, scold you for being a child, a softie, a coward, why don't you hide... hide..."

Yang Zhongfa sneered twice, and asked: "What are you hiding?"

The soldier whispered, "Hide in the house and play with my sister-in-law."

As soon as the words fell, the people in the room immediately showed angry faces, even Xinzhou, who was not showing any emotion, stood up suddenly, and shouted with an ugly face, "Bastard!"

The living customs of the Huns are very rough, and the folk customs are also extremely aggressive. They have a custom that makes the people of the Central Plains extremely contemptible, that is, "marry the mother when the father dies, and marry the wife when the brother dies".

Huyan Wuzhu clearly used the fact that Chu Hechao brought his sister-in-law back to Youzhou to deliberately distort and tease, to provoke and smear Chu Hechao.

This swear word that made the Huns laugh out loud, was an unbearable humiliation to them in the Central Plains.Not only was it a humiliation to Chu Hechao, but it was also a humiliation to Chu Hechao's sister-in-law.

Chu Hechao's previously calm face slowly sank.