In terms of scenery alone, the autumn grasslands are absolutely magnificent and magnificent, the wild grasses that gradually begin to wither and yellow are boundless, as vast as the ocean, when the autumn wind blows, the wild grass rises and falls like waves, the sky is as blue as washing, and the white clouds are pure and flawless, no matter how clever the painter, it is absolutely impossible to depict such a beautiful scene.

The Han cavalry led by Li Zuoche and Xiang Guan walked in such a scene, although restricted by manpower and material resources, Li Zuoche and Xiang Guan only brought 6,000 cavalry this time, but holding high the crimson Han army flag marching on the grassland, the Han cavalry was still as majestic and high-spirited as a red dragon, rushing to the north.

Knowing that the Xiongnu will also learn a lesson, he will definitely not be like he was deceived by his grandfather back then, and then fall into a similar trap, Li Zuoche actually had the intention of taking the initiative to enter the grassland to provoke the Xiongnu, and he had already figured out many situations on the grassland through various light and dark channels, and had already prepared a guide who was familiar with the geography of the road and various necessary materials, so although the decision to send troops to the grassland this time was quite hasty, the Han army in Northern Xinjiang still made sufficient pre-war preparations in only five days. In the case of having time to ask Xiang Kang for instructions, he launched the first counterattack against the Xiongnu since the founding of the Han Dynasty.

Originally, Xiang Zhuang tried his best to ask Yingyou to be the chief general of this northern expedition, but Li Zuoche categorically rejected Xiang Zhuang's request, regardless of everyone's opposition, insisted that he personally lead the army to attack the grassland in the north, and forced Xiang Zhuang to stay in Mayi and temporarily preside over the northern border affairs for himself. There are two reasons, one is that Li Zuoche wants to personally go to the grassland to understand the situation of the Xiongnu on the spot, so as to meet the large-scale southward movement of the Xiongnu in the future; The second is that Li Zuoche knows that Xiang Zhuang's character is more than responsible, and he is not good at dealing with unexpected emergencies, so he does not dare to rest assured that the six thousand iron horsemen he has worked hard to train will be handed over to Xiang Zhuang to fight this very risky counterattack.

Fortunately, as the grandson of the famous general Li Mu, although Li Zuoche has always served as a civilian during the melee at the end of the Qin Dynasty and the Chu-Han War, he has never delayed the practice of archery and horse archery.

Time is precious, in order to induce the main force of the Xiongnu to change the plan of the westward expedition to the Yueshi in this winter, and in order to avoid the Han army soldiers fighting for a long time in the winter, after crossing the Great Wall near Shanwu, in the case of the enemy's unclear situation, the Han cavalry immediately rushed north at a speed of more than 150 miles a day, and pointed directly at the Yellow Flag Sea 300 miles northeast of Shanwu, preparing to annihilate a nomadic Xiongnu tribe there, firing the first shot of the Han army's counterattack in the north.

To Li Zuoche and Xiang Guan's surprise, two days later, when they rushed to the vicinity of the Yellow Flag Sea, the Xiongnu tribe shown by the intelligence was nowhere to be seen, so that the first attack of the Han cavalry was empty, but fortunately, the Han army scouts soon found the traces of the Xiongnu tribe camping, proving that the intelligence of the Han army was not wrong, but it was unlucky that this tribe migrated to other pastures.

After confirming this situation and carefully checking the camping traces left by the target, several grassland herdsmen who were responsible for leading the way came to a unanimous conclusion, thinking that this Xiongnu tribe should not have traveled for long, and should have gone to the northeast, Li Zuoche only thought about it slightly, and immediately ordered: "Go to Chahannao, only there is the most abundant water source in the northeast, even if this Xiongnu tribe is not ready to spend the winter in Chahannao, it will definitely replenish drinking water there." ”

The geographical information collected by the border guards of the Han army for more than a year finally played a huge role this time, and after continuing to run northeast for more than a day, at a position that was still hundreds of miles away from Chahannao, the Han cavalry really caught up with the Xiongnu tribe that had temporarily settled in the Yellow Flag Sea, and the Han army scouts who first discovered this situation immediately reported the news to Li Zuoche, who was overjoyed when he heard the news, and immediately pointed to the front with a horsewhip, and shouted: "The whole army is assaulting, Avenge the frontier people of our Great Han! Kill! ”

"Kill ——!"

In the shout, the first shot of the Han army's counterattack against the Xiongnu officially fired, and the 6,000 Han cavalry left only 1,000 people to protect the waterwheel and grain cart, and the remaining 5,000 cavalry all charged up with their sabers, killing the enemy's position without hesitation.

It is also worthy of being a natural robber and bandit, the Huns' response is far beyond the imagination of the Han soldiers, and the Xiang Guan who rushed to the front just saw the nomadic tribe belonging to the Xiongnu Zuoxian King, the young and strong men of the Hun tribe have all mounted their horses and formed a team, and they opened the bowstring early to prepare for the assault of the Han cavalry, and the rest of the Huns' old and weak women and children drove the cattle and sheep to rush and evacuate the battlefield as quickly as possible, and when the Han cavalry rushed to the near place, countless colorful feather arrows immediately split their heads and covered their faces. Roaring towards the Han cavalry.

To the surprise of these Hun cavalry, although the dense rain of arrows they quickly shot down and knocked down some Han cavalry soldiers, but the number of Han cavalry fell to the ground was obviously less than they expected, and many Han cavalry obviously had arrows inserted in their bodies, but they still roared and continued to rush straight forward, without any signs of injury. Many experienced Hun cavalry were also shocked, and couldn't help but shout in horror in Xiongnu language, "What kind of armor are the Central Plains people wearing?" Why can't our arrows pierce? ”

The Han army armor that frightened the Hun cavalry was, of course, iron armor, to be precise, in the north of Xinjiang for more than a year, Li Zuoche and other Han army civil and military organizations a large number of craftsmen repeated experiments, in advance invented a new type of armor that embedded the iron piece into the cowhide, the weight is light, and can effectively resist the bronze arrowheads, bone arrowheads and stone arrowheads used by the Hun cavalry, but limited to the cost of technology, only to the elite cavalry of the Han army, which will all be equipped with this kind of iron armor of the Han cavalry suddenly appeared in large numbers, Of course, it caught the Hun cavalry off guard, unbelievable.

Or that sentence, the Hun cavalry with beef and sheep cheese as the staple food is born strong after all, even if the bow and arrow can not shoot through the armor of the Han cavalry, the Hun cavalry is not too flustered, still rely on the bow and arrow skills that have been exercised for many years to release arrows one after another, using the opportunity of the rapid reduction of the distance to suppress the impact of the Han cavalry as much as possible, and then it is still within twenty steps of the Han cavalry, the Hun cavalry put down their bows and arrows, and picked up melee weapons such as wooden-handled bronze knives, bronze pecks and wooden-handled bronze spears, Horses mounted a counter-charge against the Han cavalry.

In the memory of these Hun cavalry, the weapons used by the Central Plains cavalry in addition to spear and other stabbing weapons, all the weapons used in melee combat are bronze long swords, which can only be stabbed during the battle, not chopped, and usually only stabbed to the part of their body that is not protected by armor can cause damage to them, the hit rate is very low, and even if it is stabbed, it is often because of the impact of the war horse that causes the long sword to directly penetrate the body, it is difficult to pull it out and continue to fight, and it is very easy to hurt the wrist, and it is not very difficult to deal with. Therefore, even if the strength was at a disadvantage, these Hun cavalry were not afraid to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Han cavalry.

The steel saber uniformly equipped by the Han cavalry quickly told these Hun cavalry what the technical generation difference was, and between the two armies, the Hun cavalry only temporarily did not fall behind during the spear stabbing period, but when it came to a closer hand-to-hand combat, Xueliang's steel saber immediately killed the Hun cavalry by surprise!

In the neighing of horses, every time the saber of the Han cavalry is chopped out, it can usually easily cut off the arms and wrists of the Hun cavalry, cut off the muscles and ears and nose on their bodies, cut their throats and necks, and even directly cut off the wooden handle of the spear or bronze straight knife of the Hun cavalry, and then whether it hits or not, the sabre of the Han army can also immediately launch a second attack, the speed of the blade with a curve is much faster than the bronze straight knife of the Huns, and the Hun cavalry is chopped one by one to the ghost crying wolf howl, and the screams come and go, covering the sky and the wilderness.

This is not counting, the Hun cavalry is also extremely unlucky to meet the Xiang family's children are currently ranked among the top two fierce generals Xiang Guan, brandishing a saber to rush to kill in the crowd of Hun cavalry, determined to correct the name of the Xiang family's children Xiang Guan, like Shura descended, like chopping melons and vegetables, the Hun cavalry in front of him was cut down one after another, and they were all invincible. Encouraged by Xiang Guan, the Han cavalry, who had long been well-paid and had already raised their bodies, were also brave, everyone took the lead, wielding sabers and slashing wildly, holding a spear with a steel spearhead at the front end and stabbing with thorns, the offensive was like a storm, killing the poor Hun cavalry all over the field, and people turned over on their backs.

The Hun cavalry of this tribe was originally less than 2,000 people, the strength was at an absolute disadvantage, and the weapons and equipment were thrown off by the Han cavalry in advance of several generations, so it was naturally impossible to resist the fierce offensive of the Han cavalry, and the battle was less than 20 minutes, and the frightened Hun cavalry had already pulled out their horses and fled for their lives, shouting and fleeing in all directions, and the Han cavalry resolutely pursued, urging the war horse to wield a saber and chase the butt of the Hun defeated soldiers. With red eyes, he wants to avenge his compatriots in the frontier who have been poisoned and brutalized by the steppe bandits.

Even so, this battle did not last long, the pursuit battle only lasted more than half an hour, the Han cavalry had already been able to catch up with all the Hun cavalry cut down, and at the same time quickly caught up with the old and weak Hun women and children who drove the cattle and sheep to flee for their lives, and the red-eyed Xiang Guan was not polite, and immediately pointed at the old and weak Hun women and children who were already crying and fleeing with blood-stained sabers, and shouted: "Kill!" One......! ”

"General Xiang! General Xiang! ”

The sudden shouting sound from the rear interrupted Xiang Guan's slaughter order, and when Xiang Guan looked back in confusion, he saw that it was one of Li Zuoche's guards who rushed up, and said to Xiang Guan as soon as they met: "General Xiang, the county has an order, if we catch up with the old and weak women and children of the Huns, we are not allowed to kill, let them go!" Just grab the cattle, sheep and horses. ”

"Why?" Xiang Guan asked angrily, "Why aren't you allowed to kill them?" Why let them go? ”

"The villain doesn't know." Li Zuoche's guard shook his head, and hurriedly added: "Jun Zun said, he knows that you definitely don't understand his intentions, he will meet with you in a while, and will explain to you in person, but before that, please obey his orders, let go of these Huns, old and weak and women, and don't miss his big things." ”

Thinking of Xiang Kang's repeated admonitions when he went north, so that he should respect and obey Li Zuoche's orders no matter what, Xiang Guan gritted his teeth and still shouted: "Mingjin, let these Huns get out of here, and grab all the cattle, sheep, horses and vehicles!" ”

It is precisely because of Li Zuoche's order that the old and weak women and children of the Huns who have been like lambs to be slaughtered were able to escape alive, crying and shouting and fleeing into the distance, only some of the Hun old people and women who were reluctant to leave the cattle and sheep vehicles were executed by the Han cavalry, and then before all the Han cavalry who pursued the defeated Huns returned, Li Zuoche had already come to the scene with a waterwheel and a grain truck, and smiled at Xiang Guan as soon as they met: "General Xiang, you fought beautifully, in less than an hour, this Xiongnu tribe has been completely disabled by you." , gave us a good start to this northern expedition! ”

"Junzun, why are you ......?"

"General Xiang, calm down, listen to my explanation." Li Zuoche interrupted Xiang Guan's questioning with a smile, and asked rhetorically: "You want to ask, why did I let you deliberately let go of the old and weak women and children of the Hun barbarians, right?" ”

Xiang Guan nodded immediately, and Li Zuoche also said: "General Xiang, do you still remember the Hun combat habits that we summed up in Yanmen?" Every time the Xiongnu barbarians invaded our northern frontier in the south, their old and weak women and children would accompany the army and be stationed not far from the battlefield, specifically responsible for driving cattle and sheep for the Hun cavalry, milking and cooking meat, and transporting military supplies. ”

"It's because I remember that I want to kill all these old wolves, baby wolves and she-wolves!" Xiang Guan roared angrily: "Although these jackals didn't directly kill our people and rob us of our things, but without them, how could the Huns be so rampant?" ”

"General Xiang is angry, listen to me explain to you slowly." Li Zuoche smiled even more happily and said: "General Xiang, I also know that these old and weak women and children of the Huns who indirectly helped the Xiongnu barbarians to plague our Central Plains deserve to die, but have you considered this problem?" If we kill all the old and weak women and children of the Xiongnu everywhere we go in this northern expedition, when the main force of the Xiongnu goes south in a big way in the future, will they still learn a lesson and place their old and weak women and children far away, so that we will not find a chance to start? ”

Xiang Guan froze, and then immediately understood what Li Zuoche meant, and hurriedly lowered his voice and said: "Guangwujun, do you want the Huns to think that we will not attack their old and weak women and children, and when they go south in the future, they can rest assured that they will take the old and weak women and children to go out together?" ”

Li Zuoche smiled and nodded, and said: "Only after putting a long line can we catch a big fish, we and the Huns don't know how many years it will take to decide the winner, in this case, why should we rush to remind the Huns to notice this weakness of theirs?" Wouldn't it be better to wait until later, when we have the certainty to deal with the main force of the Huns, and then suddenly use this move? ”

Xiang Guan didn't say much, just bowed to Li Zuoche, and said sincerely: "Guangwujun, my brother let you sit in the northern border of the Han Dynasty, you really didn't choose the wrong person." ”

The Han cavalry battle was not only basically crippled and abolished this Xiongnu tribe, after carefully cleaning the battlefield, the Han cavalry also found more than a dozen wounded Hun cavalry, Li Zuoche immediately came forward in person, through the translation of the fake comfort of these Hun cavalry, to give them treatment and food, but also successfully from their mouths out of important information, knowing that the reason why they suddenly left the Yellow Flag Sea was to prepare to go to Chahannao to meet with the other two Hun tribes, and then go north to Yundu Mountain to respond to the call of the Xiongnu Zuoxian King. Li Zuoche was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately ordered the release of more than a dozen Xiongnu prisoners of war, slaughtered all the cattle and sheep that could not be taken away, and then immediately led the Han cavalry to gallop to Chahannao, and went to settle accounts with the other two Xiongnu tribes.

This time the Han cavalry did not rush into the air, just arrived at Chahannao, and immediately met the other two tribes confessed by the Hun captives, and then the Hun cavalry of the two tribes immediately joined forces to meet the Han cavalry, and the strength was almost equal to the Han cavalry, and the Han cavalry, which had an overwhelming advantage in weapons and equipment, was not afraid at all, regardless of the fatigue of the attack, immediately launched a surprise attack, and started a fierce battle with the Hun cavalry on the shore of Chahannao Lake.

In history, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was able to successfully counterattack the Xiongnu, in addition to the fact that he had accumulated enough national strength, there was also an important reason that a large number of steel weapons were equipped, and in terms of weapons, he threw off a large section of the Hun cavalry that was still in the Bronze Age, and now because of the appearance of Xiang Kang, the traverser, the cavalry of the Han army was not only equipped with steel weapons and armor more than 80 years in advance, but also the main combat weapon steel saber was far more than the ring-headed iron knife in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in technology. So......

After the first battle, most of the Hun cavalry of the two tribes were killed and wounded, and only less than forty percent of the defeated soldiers escaped, and although their families and children were able to escape because of Li Zuoche's deliberate forgiveness, their cattle and sheep and vehicles carrying property were almost all captured by the Han army, and they were no longer able to survive the winter on their own, so they could only rely on the relief of other Xiongnu tribes to survive the coming winter- It would have to pay a considerable price in exchange for these alms, such as offering a wife and children.

It's still the same, just after the end of the war, Li Zuoche immediately obtained a confession through a translator, and used medicine, food and life to grasp the movements of other Xiongnu tribes from the wounded and captured Huns, and then the Han army immediately continued to go north after a short rest in Chahannao, to find other Xiongnu tribes to start, and constantly summed up experience in actual combat, taking advantage of the opportunity that the Hun cavalry camped without fortifications to protect the opportunity, and adopted the tactics of robbing the camp at night to sneak attack, and killed two unlucky small Xiongnu tribes at an incalculable price.

After walking around the grassland, after killing nine Xiongnu tribes of different sizes, the cold wind suddenly rose, and the first snow of this winter fell on the grassland, wrapped in a sheepskin with a fishy smell and reached out to pick up a snowflake, Li Zuoche made up his mind and said: "It's time to go back, order the whole army, and immediately return to Yanmen for the winter." ”

"Guangwujun, this is going back? We haven't been sure whether the Xiongnu will give up the Western Expedition to the Yueshi? Xiang Guan, who hadn't killed it yet, asked.

"Regardless of whether or not the main force of the Xiongnu is forced to give up the westward expedition, we must go back immediately, and we can only do this step."

Li Zuoche replied calmly: "The Huns have always been good at fighting in winter, although we have captured enough furs to keep the soldiers warm, but we have no experience in fighting on the grassland in winter, if we delay any longer, if we encounter a large army of the Huns, even if we have an advantage in weapons and equipment, we may suffer a big loss." Therefore, they can only accept it when they see it, and quickly withdraw to Yanmen, as for whether they can force the Xiongnu to give up the western expedition, it depends on their own luck in the Yueshi country. ”