The battalions were collected one after another, and the loot captured was much greater than before, and a large number of gold and silver coins were found. But there is one thing, Bailiyan (Wei Xian) has never been found, it seems that Jin Xuedi never marches with a map, and ordinary cavalry is even counted, and it is his elite heavy cavalry that is best defeated today, and there is still no map in the trophy.

Since the beginning of the war, there has never been a map of Jin Xuedi in the coalition army, let alone a topographic map of the hinterland of Jin Xuedi, it is said that three thousand miles southwest of Tianshu City, the barbarian army does not even have a city. Every time the northern invaders were to use a unicorn in advance, establish a forward supply station, gather heavy troops, and then use the supply station as a springboard to launch an attack on Qianyue Mountain.

The coalition army did not have unicorns, and relying on horses and vehicles could not carry a large amount of grain and grass, and the 100,000 infantry troops marched out of the forward base for a long time for a long time, which required the support of 400,000 people, including the consumption of grain and grass by the people, so 100,000 people were 1,000 miles away from the forward base, in fact, 500,000 people were eating, and if you count the large amount of food for the soldiers, it was more than 500,000 rations at all.

And to go out of 3,000 miles, it takes at least 600,000 wives to carry on their shoulders, or hundreds of thousands of pack horses, and the transportation capacity is only equivalent to the work done by 20,000 or 30,000 unicorns, while the barbarian army has hundreds of thousands, millions of unicorns, and its transportation capacity is equivalent to tens of millions of men. This advantage alone is beyond the reach of the Central Plains coalition forces.

Quickly clean up the battlefield, and cut off more than 6,500 ears one after another, not counting the corpses of the barbarians who fled sporadically on the way to chase and kill, according to Sikong Nan's report, there were only 1,200 or 300 people on the way to the west, according to this estimate, the barbarian army that really escaped should be around 4,000 people, because there were more than 7,000 war horses captured alone, counting yesterday's casualties, 4,000 people are not much.

"General, what should our army do next, please make it clear to the general." Bai He asked.

"This place is not suitable for a long time, the horses have been fed for three days, and they urgently need to find pasture to feed the horses. The wounded soldiers also have to recuperate, and they are no longer able to fight for the time being. ”

Sikong Nan said at this time:

"But where are you going? If you don't retreat south to Xutu, this place is only a few days away from Xutu, where you can still get cultivation. ”

"No, Xiaochi is lost, Xu Tu is the turtle in the urn, and the back road will be cut off. And after a few days' footsteps, the horses are afraid that they can't stand it, so let's go west, there should be pastures to the west. ”

"To the west is Xiaochi, to the north is behind the barbarian cavalry, and the barbarian army can kill it in just one day. Is it too dangerous. Sikong Nan worried.

"It's risky, but ...... It's also dark under the lights. The more dangerous the place, the safer it is, and our army urgently needs to repair a safer place. Without further ado, continue to drive westward. ”

"What about the Qi army, the one surnamed Wang has to leave." Lu Gao once again pointed the finger at the Qi army.

"It's okay to go, let him get out of here with his own people, and don't think about anything else."

Ji Yao left two thousand Qi troops, not expecting the Xian army to stop the barbarian army at all, but dragging the barbarian army to buy time for them to escape. At present, more than half of the casualties are inflicted, and the Qi army has no intention of fighting, and retreating is inevitable.

Baili Yan divided 500 of the left ear cut off, and gave 300 tall horses, 1,000 barbarian weapons, and a number of grain and grass, and sent the Qi army away. The two armies then parted ways, and the Xian army set off one after another.

The seriously wounded could only use improvised stretchers with guns, sticks, leggings, and sheepskin blankets, and let the lightly wounded pull the horses on the road together, and then drive the horses and baggage all the way to the west.

The snow grew lighter along the way, and the march was accelerated, and after more than sixty miles, he found the pastures that had been eaten, but it was better to talk than nothing, than nothing.

On the night of the repair, a barbarian army of 20,000 people, the Jinjia heavy cavalry raided the previous station, and after finding nothing, the soldiers chased out thirty miles to the west and east in two ways, and withdrew by the same way after finding nothing, and Bailiyan escaped.

The next day, the battalions drove the horses to graze, and Bailiyan was busy disposing of the wounded, and by the afternoon most of the horses were still not fed, and on the third day they were forced to move thirty miles south to continue feeding the horses. During this period, because he was worried about the barbarian scouts, he did not dare to send scouts, and Xiaochi and the coalition army were cut off.

On the fourth day, the temperature rose somewhat, and the list of dead was filled with 56 more people, all of whom died of wound infection and heavy bleeding, and more than 100 people were still in danger.

On the fifth day, the horses were fed, and the generals began to think about how to avoid the battle, rather than how to fight actively. The lower-level officers and men are seriously war-weary, and since its establishment, the pioneer battalion has never suffered more than half of the casualties; even in the battle of Shaoping, it did not encounter a strong enemy, it could attack and retreat, and it could be defended, and it was fighting on the mainland, and it could flee if it was defeated.

At present, thousands of miles away, even if you defeat an enemy army several times your size, you will not be able to change your fate, and "who to fight for and why" has become a thorny problem.

For a fragmented Central Plains, no one would believe that they had come all the way to a deserted and uninhabited wilderness to protect their families and land, and to reach every corner for the monarch's will to rule.

After a day of inner struggle, on the evening of the sixth day, I finally made up my mind to go north to attack the main force of the barbarian cavalry from behind.

"I have summoned you all tonight, and I think everyone already knows it, and I won't say much about it. Tomorrow, our army will immediately go north to flank the barbarian army, and then sit down, if you have any doubts, you can raise them in person. After tonight, those who retreat will be engaged in military law! ”

Baili Yan made a loud noise, and the atmosphere immediately became serious. Su Hong was the first to say:

"There were 12,000 men when we set out, and after only two battles, half of them were killed or wounded. The last general heard that hundreds of thousands of people would die in the past, and in the long run, the elite and pioneer battalions of the Xianguo will be all there is to it, and they will be wiped out, what will they do in the future! ”

"What Su Hong said is that the two thousand brothers who came out of Guangxin together back then are now less than four hundred, and there are twenty-two when they were promoted to centurions, and now there are nine left, and there are not many left in the forbidden army. Sikong Nan said pessimistically.

Bai Liyan glanced at the scene and said in a deep voice:

"Who else has to say."

"The southern border is not our territory after all, and no matter how hard we try, our country will not be able to reap the slightest benefit." Lu Gao analyzed the head of the way, and then said: "Take 10,000 steps back and say, even if you finally drive the barbarian army away, you will only get some weapons and goods, Yongxing City can build anything now, there is no shortage of these at all, and in the end, it is our Xianguo who will lose all your life and money." ”

"It's all over!"

"That's it!" Lu Gao responded.

Lu Cheng and Bai Gong were still shallow and did not dare to complain, Bai Liyan was silent for a moment and continued:

"Well, Ben will tell you why this battle is going to be fought. Ben will not be an unkind person, and the soldiers don't want to fight anymore, because no one is born to die, and everyone is the fetal body of the father and mother, not the immortal body of iron and copper.

But please also remember that since the founding of the Central Plains for more than 2,000 years, the southern border has never been banned, and my Central Plains has stood for thousands of years without falling, relying on the people of the vassal states to go forward and succeed, this world can be without the Xianguo, but not without the Central Plains, the Central Plains will survive the Xianguo, the Central Plains will not be protected, and the Xianguo will not survive.

In the end, the matter of sending troops has been decided, and there is no need to discuss it again, whether you agree or disagree, tomorrow you will be ready to fight to the death. You all get the idea! ”

"I'll do it!" Everyone spoke in unison, but they could hear it very reluctantly.

"That's good, tomorrow there will be 5,000 soldiers, and the rest of the men and horses will be led by Lu Cheng, carrying the wounded, horses, equipment, grain and grass behind, and going north to attack the barbarian army. Each person should be equipped with at least three or more arrow magazines, and those who are insufficient will be replenished to the wounded, and they will go on the road as soon as it is dark. ”

"No!"

After the meeting dispersed, Lu Cheng was left alone:

"Lu Cheng, how long can our army's food and grass last?"

"This time, a lot of dry food for the barbarian army was captured, which could still be used for our army for a month, and it was all loaded on horses and transferred with the army. What did the general command? ”

"This battle is extremely dangerous, and it may be difficult for the coalition forces to win, so we should plan for the worst."

"The general is saying that the coalition forces may collapse."

"I don't want it to happen, but I have to be prepared. This time, the military logistics of the westward advance army was controlled by the royal guests, and once the coalition army was dispersed, the logistics would not be guaranteed. Returning to Tiannan Pass can only rely on our army itself. After joining up with the coalition forces, the horses, baggage, and equipment must be handed in, so you should be more careful and keep more for our people. ”

"The last will understand."

Excluding the horses taken away by Ji Yao, the Xian army captured more than 10,000 uninjured horses, more than 2,000 lightly wounded, more than 2,000 mixed horses in the Central Plains, more than 30,000 weapons, and thousands of sets of gold armor, which greatly exceeded the needs of the Xian army itself, and they had to be handed over and left for Cao Chi to distribute to the weak vassal army.

Although the grain and grass obtained were nominally the materials in the name of the Xian army, in fact, once the coalition army broke up, it was too late to escape, and there was no place to take the grain and grass. Let Lu Cheng pay more attention to the military rations in private, in case the retreat is not in a hurry, and he can't hold on to Mingzhou or Boyang.

The next day, the Xian army marched to the north of Shuangping Mountain, and the battalions had been crippled, and Bailiyan had to forcibly reduce the establishment in order to facilitate the control. There was no trace of the barbarian army after a day of marching, but there were countless hoof prints in the snow, which showed that the main force of the barbarian cavalry had rushed to the battlefield through this place.

On the second day after the departure, with a premonition that war was coming, Bailiyan deliberately slowed down the progress, and the Xian army did not set up until noon, and sent several scouts to the north to reconnoitre, and camped again at dusk. Scouts report emergency military intelligence:

"General, urgent military situation!"

Lu Cheng's face was ugly, and Bai Liyan's heart sank violently, it must have been a battle between the coalition army and the barbarian army:

"It's the war that's unfavorable!"

"Exactly! More than 40 miles to the northeast of Luyuan Slope, when the scouts returned, our army had already shown signs of defeat. ”

"Luyuan Slope!" Bailiyan spread out the map and looked for Luyuan Slope. The southern border is large and vast, but there are not many places with place names. Finding where Luyuan Slope was, Bai Liyan asked again: "How many barbarians are there!" ”

Lu Cheng was silent.

"Say, how many people are in the bottom!"

"Maybe more than 200,000!"

"More than 200,000! Whether it's 2,120,000, or 2,340,000, it can't be 2,780,000! Bai Liyan asked sharply.

"It's too much, it's too much, the two armies are holding each other, and it can't be found."

"Did you spot barbarian scouts along the way?"

"No, all scouts have been recovered."

"You quickly take someone and follow me to explore in person."

"General, the situation is unknown, absolutely not."

"The stakes are very high, and there is no need to say anything more, go and pick fifty tall horses, and go with me immediately."

"No!"

Jin Xuedi's open-like strength has always made Bailiyan puzzled, even in modern warfare, with strong logistical support, not everyone can do it to protect dozens or even millions of people in a short period of time.

Without the General Logistics Department, the General Staff Department, and the Field Division, and without all modern warfare systems and means of communication, how Jin Xuedi could ensure that the whole army could move freely on a front as wide as 2,000 miles has always been a mystery since the beginning of the war.