Chapter 274: Wuchuan City Falls
After hearing Hou Mochen Yue say this, Lou Poqiang still found it a little unconvincing.
The Jizhou soldiers are elite and well-equipped with weapons. Even if Wei Kegu's army is large in number, as long as Zhang Shijun holds Wuchuan, they should not be defeated.
If he, the general, escaped at this time, he would definitely be punished by the court.
But Houmo Chenyue said:
"Although the Jizhou soldiers look capable, they are here to capture slaves, not to fight."
"General Lou, the entire Wuchuan hates them to the core now. Can they defend Wuchuan Town?"
After being reminded by Hou Mochen Yue, Lou Poqiang immediately woke up. That's right, fighting a war is not just about equipment. What Zhang Shijun led these Jizhou soldiers to do in Wuchuan can be said to have completely alienated the people of Wuchuan.
Even because the Jizhou soldiers came to Wuchuan, the reputation of the town commander Lou Poqiang improved.
It turns out that people are differentiated by comparison.
After realizing this, Lou Poqiang sobered up and immediately said to Hou Mochen Yue:
"General Houmochen, what should we do? If we leave Wuchuan directly, what if the court asks for punishment?"
Houmo Chenyue said:
"Wuchuan cannot be defended. We need someone to report to the rear and gather the remaining troops. The commander can retreat to Baidao City first."
"We can gather the defeated soldiers in Baidao City and organize an army to resist. The court will not punish us."
Thinking of this, Lou Poqiang no longer hesitated. He took all the things he had looted over the years and quietly left Wuchuan City under the escort of Hou Mochen Yue.
At the same time as Lou Poqiang left Wuchuan, the ten-year-old Hou Mochen Chong also gathered his younger brothers and said to them:
"The people of Jizhou are doing evil things in Wuchuan. Now Wei Kegu is leading his troops to attack us. Wuchuan will surely be defeated."
"My brother has already gone to war with General Li. He entrusted you to me before he left. You must listen to me."
Hou Mo Chen Chong's brothers also showed no fear. The third brother said in a baby voice:
"Brother, we brothers must defend Wuchuan to the death!"
Who knew Hou Mo Chen Chong said:
"Who told you to guard Wuchuan? How old are you? You have to guard Wuchuan!"
Hou Mochen Chong is the second elder brother. After his father died early, his eldest brother Hou Mochen Shun hurriedly inherited the position of military leader of the family. He was very busy on weekdays, so it was always Hou Mochen Chong who disciplined his younger siblings.
"I just said that it was Zhang Shijun's evil deeds that caused such a disaster in Wuchuan. Why should we, the people of the Six Towns, be buried with the people of Jizhou?"
Houmo Chenchong said:
"Life is the most important thing. Don't talk about dying for your country anymore."
Hou Mo Chen Chong looked at his younger brothers and sighed deeply.
The biggest advantage of the people of Liuzhen is their bravery, but their biggest disadvantage is that they are stupid and easily exploited.
Houmochen Chong's father died early. He watched his elder brother Houmochen Shun lead several younger brothers to grow up amidst intrigues and deceptions, and guard the Houmochen family's home. So he knew from a young age that human nature can be treacherous.
Now Zhang Shijun has destroyed the last bit of goodwill of the imperial army, and Su Ze's prestige when he was killing people in Wuchuan has also been destroyed. There is no reason why Wuchuan cannot be conquered.
Several brothers looked at him, and Hou Mo Chen Chong asked:
"Take out all the valuables in your house, and take as many people as you can. Let's go to Wuyuan to follow my brother."
When Li Chong passed by Wuchuan, his brother Houmochenshun took the initiative to lead his troops to surrender to Li Chong.
Troubled times are coming and everyone is looking for a way out.
The only way for the people of the Six Garrisons to leave the Six Garrisons was to make military achievements and be led out of the Six Garrisons by a great general like Li Chong.
Although the military commander of the Six Garrisons seems to be in a high position in the Six Garrisons, he is actually a "prisoner" guarding the border just like the ordinary people in the Six Garrisons, and he has almost no chance to leave the Six Garrisons.
Houmo Chenshun didn't want his younger brother to be trapped in the Six Garrisons for the rest of his life like his father and grandfather, so he followed Li Chong to fight to the death.
Hou Mochenshun thought it was a safe choice to leave his younger brothers and sisters in Wuchuan, but he didn't expect Zhang Shijun to do such a bold move in Wuchuan, and Wei Kegu attacked Wuchuan so sharply. Now Wuchuan has become the most dangerous place.
After saying this, Houmochen Chong immediately spent all his family wealth, recruited the heroes that his father and brother had made friends with, and headed westward overnight to chase after Li Chong's army.
-
In the second year of Zhengguang year, it was the eighth day of September.
Li Chong has already discovered that the main force of Po Liu Han Baling appeared near Wuyuan.
This was exactly what Li Chong had expected.
Wuyuan was called Jiuyuan during the Qin and Han Dynasties.
King Wuling of Zhao established Yunzhong County, with Wuyuan as the county seat. It was the front line of Zhao State's resistance against the Hu people.
During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, General Li Guangli led 60,000 cavalry and 100,000 infantry out of Shuofang, Lu Bode led over 10,000 men, and Han Shuo led 30,000 infantry and cavalry out of Wuyuan to engage in a fierce battle with the Xiongnu Chanyu.
During the time of the Five Barbarians' Invasion of China, Wuyuan was occupied by the barbarians. During the Northern Wei Dynasty, Wuyuan City was abolished and six towns were set up to guard the border.
This place is on the bank of the Yellow River and also belongs to the Hetao region. It is the most fertile land in the Six Towns.
Po Liu Han Baling has a large number of herdsmen from the Six Towns under his command. After looting Woye Town, the livestock herds must rest in Wuyuan.
The logistical logic of nomadic peoples and agricultural peoples is completely different.
When farming nations go to war, supplies for the front lines are transported from the rear. This also determines that the battles in the Central Plains are all about key transportation hubs. If the food supply is cut off, the army will be defeated.
When nomadic peoples went to war, they would bring their livestock and the entire tribe with them, and fight while grazing. They did not need to worry about supply issues, so there were examples of grassland peoples migrating on a large scale to fight, which was almost unimaginable in the Central Plains.
In the early days of Emperor Wu of Han, the warfare strategy was still that of an agricultural nation, so it was extremely consuming and they could only guard the fortress and wait for the Huns to attack.
Later, Emperor Wu of Han changed his thinking and adopted the fighting style of the nomadic peoples, which led to Wei Qing and Huo Qubing's expedition of thousands of miles to conquer the Wolf's Lair.
Li Shimin, the cavalry master of later generations, also used the same cavalry assault method. However, Li Shimin did not rely on grazing and replenishing supplies at the same time, but relied on the granaries set up in various places by the Sui Dynasty. That is why he had the wonderful cavalry combat like in the early Tang Dynasty, and fought a graceful battle of thousands of miles of raids in the Central Plains.
Li Chong was familiar with the terrain of Liuzhen. He knew that Han Baling, who had just captured Woye Town, would have to rest in Wuyuan. So he took his army to Wuyuan and took Poliu Han Baling to fight a decisive battle.
Although there was no problem in predicting the enemy's situation, Li Chong had been feeling uneasy recently, and the scouts he sent to investigate the situation in the Huaishuo direction had not returned yet.
But the decisive battle had to be fought no matter what. After Li Chong calculated the food and grass and discussed the time of tomorrow's battle with Anfeng King Yuan Yanming and Guangling King Yuan Gong, he heard his men report that Houmochen Shun asked to see him.
Li Chong still admired the Wuchuan Army Commander very much.
He fought bravely and led the troops by example. Li Chong also felt that there were many heroes in Wuchuan.
The only regret is that Heba father and son and Yuwen father and son both went to support Huaishuo. If they had been the vanguard, Li Chong would have been more confident in this battle.
As the war was imminent, a vanguard general like Houmochenshun asked for a meeting, and Li Chong met Houmochenshun despite his exhaustion.
But unexpectedly, Hou Mo Chen Shun did not come alone, but brought a half-grown boy with him.
After Hou Mochenshun paid his respects, he anxiously said to Li Chong:
"General! The thief general Wei Kegu attacked Wuchuan!"
Li Chong felt dizzy, and he finally knew what he had been worrying about these days!
Wuchuan, why didn’t I think of such a big loophole?
Why didn't the scouts who were investigating Wei Kegu's movements come back? Why was there no news from the rear for several days?
Li Chong felt that he was really old, so old that his intuition on the battlefield had become dull.
"Tell me about Wuchuan's situation!"
Houmochen Chong came forward in a baby voice and recounted in clear and organized detail what Zhang Shijun and the Jizhou soldiers had done in Wuchuan after Li Chong left.
After listening to this, Li Chong turned pale and said:
"Wukawa is lost."
Li Chong hurriedly invited Anfeng King Yuan Yanming and Guangling King Yuan Gong back to the general's tent. He simply told them the news that Houmochen Chong had brought back.
Hearing that his retreat was cut off, Guangling Prince Yuan Gong hurriedly asked:
"Can't we just go back to Wuchuan?"
Li Chong shook his head and said:
"It's too late to count the days. If the army knew that their retreat was cut off, they would collapse quickly and would have no chance of a decisive battle with the enemy."
Anfeng King Yuan Yanming asked:
"What does the general mean?"
Li Chong gritted his teeth and said:
"We can only conceal the news from the rear of the army and continue the decisive battle with Po Liu Han Baling."
"If we win this battle, even if we only defeat the enemy, we can still hold on with the spoils of war and the morale of victory."
After hearing this, the two princes could not come up with any better ideas and could only follow Li Chong's plan and prepare for the battle with Po Liu and Han Baling tomorrow.
Wuyuan, September 9th.
Po Liu Han Baling felt uncomfortable when he saw the army's untidy formation, but he lacked officers and ordinary people from the six towns had never been trained in formation, so it was good enough to be able to do this.
This is the formation created by Po Liu Han Baling. In his eyes, it is the best formation.
Every soldier stands in his position in the formation, and the formation is impeccable.
When Po Liu Han Baling heard that the enemy general was Li Chong, a famous general who conquered the Rouran people, he was even more delighted. He decided to make Li Chong, a famous general of the pseudo-dynasty, a touchstone to verify his own formation!
Li Chong was also dumbfounded when he saw Po Liu Han Baling's unprecedented formation in the center army.
In his opinion, Po Liu Han Baling's formation was a joke.
The infantry protected the archers, and the archers protected the cavalry. The fancy formation reminded Li Chong of the water clock in front of the Taiji Hall in the Luoyang Imperial Palace.
Elaborate, complicated, and useless.
The water clock in front of the Taiji Hall requires craftsmen to spend time maintaining it. Any improper operation requires readjustment, so it runs half an hour fast every day.
In Li Chong's opinion, the same was true of the formation that broke through Liu Han Baling. It seemed sophisticated, but in fact it was full of loopholes.
Li Chong was not polite and immediately ordered the cavalry battalion he had carefully selected during this period to attack.
On the ninth day of the ninth month in the second year of Zhengguang, General Li Chong of the Cavalry attacked the rebels of the Six Garrisons in Wuyuan. The rebel leader Po Liu Han Baling arranged his battle array, but Chong broke it with his cavalry, and the rebel army was greatly defeated. Chong pursued them again, and the defeated rebel leader Po Liu Han Baling retreated to Woye Town.
On the fifth day of September in the first year of King Zhen's reign, his general Wei Kegu led his troops to conquer Wuchuan. Zhang Shijun, the pseudo-Jizhou governor, was captured and torn to pieces by King Wei.
(End of this chapter)