11. March
Kaneshiro Yogo Castle
Located in the west of Yunwu important land, the west rejects the Qiang people, the east is connected to Longxi, controls the border towns, and the river is brilliant, and the Han Empire has vigorously operated here. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoFor the Empire, it was a suitable land for cultivation and settlement, and a military location for the Han Empire. On the contrary, for the Liangzhou coalition army, it is also a place to gather people from all walks of life and march eastward.
The Huangshui that gave birth to countless Han and Hu civilizations flowed quietly, bypassing the northern wall of Yunwu Castle and flowing all the way east into the Great River. And in the south of Yunwu City, the coalition army gathered soldiers and horses, Qiang Hu shadow, and the coalition soldiers who marched from the camp were like tigers and horses, and the troops were sharp, and they continued to march to the east.
There are more than 20,000 members of this coalition army, including the clans and righteous servants sent by the great families of Jincheng, the troops and righteous servants sent by Haoqiang, the soldiers and horses of the Qiang people from the Huangshui River Valley, and the miscellaneous beards and horse thieves who wander outside the Saiwai. In terms of equipment, the various troops are also uneven, each family is relatively good, most of the people wear leather armor, have iron weapons, and the Qiang people, Zahu and other armor is much worse, some people just put on a broken leather jacket, holding bamboo spears and stone spears, some do not have horses, follow the rear team interspersed in the foot soldiers.
The temporary leader of the coalition was Han Chang, the nephew of Han Sui, the head of the Han family in Jincheng, which was also the result of a compromise between the parties. Because these temporarily convened soldiers and horses do not belong to each other, and some tribes still have feuds on weekdays, they can only launch the Han family, the largest force in Jincheng at the moment, as a banner to call on everyone. And even if Han Chang represents a huge force like the Han family in Jincheng behind him, he can only symbolically restrain the armies, and in essence, the military power is still scattered in the hands of each family and tribe.
Yan Xing is also leading the Yan family's troops to walk in the ranks at this moment, and after completing the pre-departure rituals such as paying tribute to the ancestors and worshipping the gods three days ago, Yan Xing officially came to the camp outside Yunwu City with three hundred tribes, and in addition to the original Ganling, Ma Lin and others, there were two more Yan family's children, one named Yan Shun and the other Yan Xing.
Yan Shun is a middle-aged man with a simple face and a dark complexion, although he is older than Yan Xing, but because he is a partial house, his status is low among the younger brothers in each house. On weekdays, he is stable and reliable, so Father Yan arranged him into the army this time, which can be regarded as an exceptional promotion, that is, he hopes that he will not threaten Yan Xing's position as the head of the army while assisting Yan Xing. And Yan Xing is the same age as Yan Xing, and on weekdays, the young people in the clan are relatively close to Yan Xing, and he can be regarded as Yan Xing's henchman among the new generation of children of the Yan family.
However, Father Yan is a little worried about these plans, Yan Xing is brave and good at fighting, plus he is sympathetic to the soldiers, he leads the troops and naturally expects everyone, even if there are one or two who are not convinced, they will not be able to become a climate among the people.
Just like now, Yan Xing led his troops on the march, and he did not swagger like the children of other families and tribesmen. Instead, like an ordinary trilogy, he carried his luggage on his back and led the horse on foot. Although the Yan family sent out three hundred parts, they did not have the luxury to the point of equipping everyone with war horses, so except for Yan Xing's original light knights, only three or four parts were equipped with horses. Yan Xing also formulated strict military laws for his troops, ordering that the cavalry on the march was not allowed to ride horses until they saw the enemy, and the cavalry on the march must maintain a strict marching formation and formation, and should not be interspersed with the ranks at will.
Yan Xing knew that ancient wars were not as quick as the high-tech wars he had heard and seen in his previous life, and the troops could be quickly deployed by trains and transport planes, and the winners and losers could be determined in a short period of time. Today's wars tend to be protracted, and soldiers spend most of their time not fighting on the battlefield, but on long, torturous marches. Unless the cavalry on a long-distance march can be equipped with more than three horses per person to ensure that there is sufficient horsepower to devote to the attack and battle anytime and anywhere, the horses will not be able to carry the soldiers, equipment, and luggage for a long time, otherwise they will seriously lose weight and lose the ability to sprint on the battlefield. The purpose of keeping the soldiers in formation and widening the distance is to train the soldiers in the coordination and configuration of the battle formation, so that they can develop the habit of obeying discipline and attaching importance to coordination.
Of course, this is not without negative effects, such strict discipline is difficult for non-professional soldiers to adapt to for a while, after all, other soldiers and horses do not have so many rules. Therefore, in response to this situation, Yan Xing ordered that in addition to the scouts of the sentry and the order of the messenger, Gan Ling, Ma Lin, Yan Xing, Yan Shun and others, including himself, should dismount and lead the horse on foot like a soldier, emphasizing the importance of military discipline and formation to everyone in the ranks.
This practice of leading by example has won the hearts of the tribesmen, and at the same time, it has also made the Yan family's tribes a maverick among people from all walks of life.
Yan Xing was dressed in leather armor, followed by horses, and walked at the front of his team with a sheepskin map in his hand, observing the situation of the mountains and rivers along the way during the march, and marking the corresponding symbols and numbers on the map.
As a general, you must learn to judge the simple astronomical climate and be familiar with the surrounding mountains and rivers, otherwise you will not only be unable to predict the battle situation and make correct arrangements before the war, but you will also easily lose your geographical advantages in the war, and even be ambushed by the enemy. It's a pity that although Yan Xing has been collecting maps depicting the surrounding geography, he has only collected a few scattered sheepskin maps in his hands, and there are no craftsmen who make maps under his hands, so he can only do it himself and mark down the terrain characteristics along the way.
Just as Yan Xing carefully examined the sheepskin map in his hand, a slow footstep sounded behind him. Yan Xing's face moved slightly, and he put away the map casually, and then glanced back seemingly casually, he knew that his subordinates would not usually come to disturb him at this time, only outsiders.
Sure enough, it was Zhao Hong of the Jincheng Zhao family who came.
The Yan and Zhao families have many joint marriages, and the Zhao family is relatively closer to the Yan family in various homes in Jincheng. Zhao Hong is the eldest grandson of the Zhao family in Jincheng, only nineteen years old, two years younger than Yan Xing, he is handsome, fair face, plus he has read the scriptures since childhood, compared to others to have a faint and elegant bookish atmosphere, and it is said that he has been talented since he was a child, famous in the county, if it were not for the turmoil in Jincheng in recent years, rebellion, I am afraid that he has already been raised to filial piety, ready to join the official career.
This time the Zhao family sent troops, and Zhao Hong also went on the expedition, Yan Xing thought to himself that the head of the Zhao family wanted to let his eldest grandson experience and earn some military merits.
Looking at Zhao Hong, who had clear eyebrows and beautiful eyes, red lips and white teeth, Yan Xing couldn't help but secretly sigh at the wonder of the Creator, there are also such handsome sons in the land of Biansai. Seeing that Zhao Hong had approached, the two had met several times in the past two days, and they were already quite familiar with each other, and they began to call each other brothers. Yan Xing laughed and said loudly:
"Brother Zhao Xian, why are you here?"
"The long-distance march is inevitably boring, the younger brother has not been in the military, I heard that the elders in the family praised the elder brother for his bravery, and now I see the elder brother marching and abandoning the horse and walking with the soldiers, there is the wind of ancient Wuqi, and my heart suddenly admires, and I came to ask my brother for benefits!"
Zhao Hong has been influenced by Confucian etiquette since he was a child, and he is humble and polite, first bowing to Yan Xing before slowly speaking, and his words are also sincere and humble. If ordinary people hear the words of such a talented and famous beautiful man, even if they don't like it, they will secretly rejoice in their hearts. It's a pity that Yan Xing is obviously immune to this kind of words, the corners of his mouth hooked slightly, and said:
"Brother Xian, you are going to kill your brother. Think of that Wu Qi, after a hundred battles, no defeat, Shi Wei is Wei Xiong, and Chu is Chu Xing. The ancients said, 'There are 70,000 people, but who is the one in the world?' Wu Qiye', what a heroic figure this is, being a brother is far less than one ten-thousandth of him. is a virtuous brother, talented, both civil and military, if time will be a figure who worships the prime minister, don't laugh at him as a brother! ”
Yan Xing obviously didn't want to easily talk to outsiders about his method of leading troops, even if he had a thousand opinions, he also had to prevent talking about things and showing off in the forest, which would attract the jealousy of others. So the conversation turned into mutual praise in the past, and Zhao Hong naturally humbled himself again and again, and the two exchanged pleasantries for a while.
Yan Xing deliberately tested the other party, his eyes rolled, and he talked about other things, he deliberately lowered his voice and said:
"Brother Xian, I don't know if you have heard that Jicheng has been captured?"
Hearing this, Zhao Hong, who was still childish on his face, suddenly became serious, and he considered the words and said in a low voice:
"Honglai did hear the news from his uncles before, and it is said that Hanyang Taishou refused to surrender and died in battle."
"Well, there was already a combination of the original soldiers and horses of the six counties and the soldiers and horses of the Han family, these horses are the elite gathered in the counties with the strength of the whole state, and Jicheng is a lonely city, there are no soldiers and horses inside, no reinforcements outside, and it is a matter of time before it falls. It's just that I don't know what the next move will be after the capture of Jicheng? ”
Yan Xing's tentative words hit Zhao Hong's heart at once, Zhao Hong opened his mouth several times, but he felt that it was not appropriate, and in the end, his face was a little gloomy and he fell into deep thought.
Obviously, the capture of Hanyang and the secession of Liangzhou are many benefits for each family. The Han family has declined, and in the eyes of the discerning people, the Han Empire is already crumbling, and the families in Jincheng are willing to help the Han family, because the Han family promised to give each family all kinds of mountains, rivers, salt, iron, population and land after the secession of Liangzhou, and each family can also rely on the strong, under the protection of the Han family, to strengthen the family, and survive in the troubled times.
It's just that as Yan Xing said, what will happen to the parties after they get Liangzhou, will the Han family and the various families really be able to live in peace, will the coalition army march into Sanfu like a few years ago, and will the Qianghu tribe, which has always been the vanguard, really have no other thoughts?
Although it is said that the truth of governing the country and leveling the world is in this sage book, Zhao Hong, who has read the scriptures at the moment, seems to be thinking too much, looking at the treacherous road ahead, he still feels that he still can't see clearly.
Yan Xing ignored Zhao Hong in contemplation, thinking that he knew the general trend of history, when he fell into a small whirlpool of history, he was not the same panic and helplessness.
The uncertain benefits are enough to make everyone crazy, and the uncertain benefits are also terrifying.
With a sigh, Yan Xing passed Zhao Hong and walked alone in front of the team again. Looking from afar, the mountains are stacked, the peaks and peaks are like gatherings, and the large team of people and horses are walking in this valley. The sun on the mountain had set in the west, and the afterglow stretched the figures of the marching men and horses for a long, long time.
It's going to be dark.