The battle with the Xianbei people was a protracted war, which lasted from the summer of the third year to the autumn of the sixth year of the first year, and for more than three years, the war was endless.

The attack of the Xianbei people was menacing at the beginning, and they relied on the strength of the soldiers and horses, and they were rampant and invincible in the land of northern Jinbei.

Cao Liang's plan for the attack of the Xianbei people has long had a defensive plan, and this plan has also been approved by Huan Fan, Cao Liang's plan is quite similar to the plan proposed by Jiang Wei in history to gather troops and gather valleys, that is, to abandon the defense of the Great Wall, and retreat the troops of northern Jin to the four cities of Yanmen, Jiuyuan, Dingxiang and Yuanping, and carry out defensive operations, and at the same time send the Yue cavalry battalion and the tun cavalry battalion to constantly harass and destroy the transportation and supply lines of the Xianbei people, and strike at the weak points of their troops.

With the current strength of the Pingbei Army, if you want to keep the enemy out of the country, it is almost an impossible goal to achieve, because the entire northern border, only the section of the annexed state, is three or four hundred miles long, if the Pingbei Army is allowed to do a drip-tight defense, then at least three to five times more troops, just holding the Yanmen Pass, for the Pingbei Army, is already the limit.

However, the Xianbei people entered the northern part of Shanxi through the mountain trail, and its logistical supply was much more difficult, and this bottleneck-like supply line has seriously restricted the offensive momentum of the Xianbei people for several years, so that after three years of fighting, it has always been wrapped in the scope of Yanmen County and Xinxing County, and Tuoba Liwei has been looking forward to the plan to march to Jinyang, which has always been stranded because of the problem of logistics supply.

If the Yanmen Pass can be opened up and this Jinbei Avenue can be opened, then the Xianbei people can solve the difficult problem of logistics and supply, and then invade the south and annex the state.

As a result, Yanmen Pass became the focus of contention between the two sides, and the Xianbei people repeatedly attacked Yanmen Pass, and repeatedly carried out north-south attacks on Yanmen Pass. However, Cao Liang had been personally stationed at Yanmen Pass, and the Wei army firmly controlled the city, allowing Xianbei to return many times in vain.

The biggest problem of the Xianbei people is the lack of means to attack the fortifications, for a long time, they live on the desert grassland, the conquest and combat all rely on the cavalry, it can be said that there is no cavalry can not solve the battle, but after entering the Central Plains, they often face a tall and strong city wall, such a siege war, for them is completely unfamiliar, the siege equipment can be used is also relatively primitive and simple, so even if the Xianbei people are overwhelming, the offensive is like a tide, but they have never been able to break through any city.

Tuoba Liwei is indeed quite depressed, it stands to reason that the Xianbei army has crossed the Wei army's Great Wall defense line, advanced for hundreds of miles, and has reached the Jiuyuan area of Xinxing County of Wei State, but it seems to be hitting a wall everywhere, not only Yanmen Pass can not be taken, even Jiuyuan, Dingxiang, Yuanping These cities can not be attacked.

The Xianbei army has also been circling in these areas for several years, attacking one city for several months in a row, but it has been in vain, and they can only turn around and fight another city, and waste a few more months, but there is also no result.

After a few tosses, it was winter. And winter is the most difficult day for the Xianbei cavalry, because the Wei army implemented the tactics of clearing the wilderness in the northern part of Jinbei, in addition to these four cities, the entire vast land of northern Jinbei, can not hear a rooster and dog barking, can not see a wisp of smoke, for the Xianbei cavalry who are accustomed to looting for a living, there is no oil and water in the land of northern Jinbei.

Coupled with the difficulties of the logistics and transportation lines, these troops who invaded the Seine were basically in a state of semi-starvation, and the only thing that made them talk about ** was that although there were no crops all over the mountains, at least they were overgrown with weeds, and if there were weeds, there would be fodder for horses, and they could also drink some mare's milk to satisfy their hunger.

But in the winter, when the grass withers and the snow covers the mountains, this time it really has to be cut off. Therefore, in winter, the Xianbei people had to withdraw their troops and retreat to the outside of the Saiwai, waiting for the next spring when the flowers bloomed, the ice and snow melted, and they invaded again.

It stands to reason that the Xianbei people tossed last year and returned empty-handed, and whether they will attack again next year will definitely be marked with a question mark. But Tuoba Liwei seems to have a tendon in his head, he didn't harvest this year, and he will come next year, he doesn't seem to believe in evil, and he still doesn't look back after hitting the south wall, as if the Central Plains has great magic, attracting him again and again, making him persevere.

But Cao Liang was annoyed, this Tuoba is weak, it is really a piece of kraft candy, very sticky, very tenacious, and he really refuses to give up if he doesn't achieve his goal, but Bingzhou was tossed back and forth by him, making people's livelihood withered and full of sores.

Needless to say, in order to implement the strong wall and clear the wilderness, there is no rooster crowing for a hundred miles, and it has become a red wilderness, and the people in the area of Jinzhong are not having a good time, in order to support the war in northern Jin, all the taxes in Jinzhong have been put into it.

In order to recruit the villagers, most of the young and strong laborers were transferred from all over the state, and after Wang Ji returned to Jinyang, he went all out to support Cao Liang, so that in the treasury of Jinyang, there was almost no grain of grain, and all the manpower and material resources that could be supported were invested in the front line in northern Shanxi.

This kind of unity of the military and the people of the state and the attitude of unanimity towards the enemy supported Cao Liang's battle from one side, and the cities in northern Jin were able to hold on without losing it, which was inseparable from the support of the people in Jinzhong.

Cao Liang has been planning a counterattack all along, if he wants to break the invasion of Xianbei, he must hit them hard, and only by beating the Xianbei people can they eliminate their covetousness for the Central Plains.

In the past three years, Cao Liang has been gathering the power to fight back, in addition to the local recruited Xiang Yong, Jinyang is the real support center of Xiang Yong.

According to the regulations of the imperial court, when a state encounters an invasion or rebellion by a foreign enemy, in order to protect the territory and the people, the governor or assassin has the power to recruit the village warrior.

It's just that these conscripted townsmen will not be included in the official establishment, and the imperial court will not bear the food and salary of these people, and all expenses need to be paid by the local state capital.

Moreover, these townsmen can only be used in times of crisis, and once the war or rebellion is over, they need to be dismissed immediately, and must not be retained.

On the other hand, although there is no explicit rule in the imperial court, it is an unwritten rule, that is, the village warriors can only be used for local defense, and they are not allowed to transfer to other places without authorization.

In a normal sense, as a local armed force, these township warriors cannot be compared with the regular army in terms of combat effectiveness or weapons and equipment, which dooms the township warriors to be useless.