In the eighth year of the Qin calendar, September 6.

In the city of Gaoque, 2,000 Qin border army cavalry soldiers wore helmets and armor, one person and two horses, rushed out from the city gate, and in the queue, the Chinese army of Wang Xi, the defender of the city, was impressive.

Two hours ago, a small group of Qin troops patrolling and hunting outside the city was unexpectedly attacked by a small tribe of the Xiongnu, in the case of the disparity in Liliang, the Qin border cavalry shot and killed more than 30 Huns, and their own team and chief were killed, and only a few five or six people fled back to the city.

Wang Xi, who was accustomed to fighting with the wind, was furious when he heard this, and immediately ordered to order 2,000 men and horses, led by him personally, to prepare to go out of the city to wash the disobedient Xiongnu tribe in blood.

Before leaving the city.

Wang Xi turned around from his horse, raised his head and glanced at the flag of the Qin State fluttering on the city of Gaoque, an excellent Great Qin border general - it is nothing to just defend a city, and what is more glorious and outstanding should be to drive the army for hundreds of miles, so that the enemy does not dare to look south.

At this time, Wang Xi didn't know that when he left the fortified city, what he was about to face was the siege of 30,000 string control armor soldiers of the Helian tribe, and with his 2,000 soldiers alone, even if there were more machine crossbows and more crossbow arrows, he would not be able to achieve a victory in front of the crowd tactics.

September 8, noon.

Chasing the remnants of the Xiongnu to the vicinity of Longcheng, Wang Xi's army met the Helian tribe who was ambushed here, and the two armies came into contact with a big battle, although the soldiers of the Qin border army were brave and tenacious, but after shooting a crossbow arrow in the quiver, they still could not break through the encirclement of the Huns.

Wang Xibing was defeated and died.

Not only him, from Longcheng to the birthplace of Gonglushui, 2,000 Qin soldiers fought and retreated, loyal border soldiers kept falling, and one after another experienced middle and lower-ranking officers of the border army lost their lives in this hopeless rout.

Wang Xi, the border general of the Qin army who was immersed in the conjecture of "talking on paper", was bent on proving himself on the battlefield. thought of making great achievements, but he didn't think about whether he had such ability, and Wang Ping's preference for this nephew also hurt him briefly.

After losing 2,000 elites, Gaoque City was in turmoil, Helian Bi waved his army south, and the saddles of the Huns were full of the heads of the Qin generals, and the bloody scene made people shudder, compared to the Southern Xiongnu. These Huns of the Helian tribe are called Shengman, they have been fighting against more primitive tribes such as Ding Ling and Qu Jie in the Beihai area for a long time, and their way of life and living habits are closer to the primitive state.

In Gaoque City, the elite was brought out by Wang Xi, although there were more than 4,000 people left, but more than half of them were heavy soldiers, and many of the remaining people were fathers and sons, uncles and nephews. Where can you still take care of the discipline of the law?

The guards in the city, those who are capable, are all excluded by Wang Xi, and the remaining incompetent people will only do things to please them. And what's even more unbearable is that one of them, the captain of the city, is still Zang Yan's eyeliner, and it is his betrayal. Only then did every move of Gaoque City be known to the Huns.

September 9th, twilight.

After a day and a night of stubborn resistance, the defenders of Gaoque City finally gave up. Only more than 200 remnants withdrew from Nancheng, and most of the rest of the soldiers died in battle, and only a few were captured.

Seven thousand soldiers of the border army.

Because of the carelessness of the Qin general Wang Xi and the annihilation, after the Gaoque City was easy to defend, the Huns got an important pass to open up the Hetao, without the barrier of the Jiancheng Pass, the Huns' cavalry could drive straight in, and plundered the Fengmei grassland that had been operated by the Qin State for many years.

――。

Nine Plains.

The garrison of the Qin Border Army.

Wang Li, the general of the Qin army who commanded the entire Hetao army, was shocked by the news of the "accidental" loss of Gaoque City and almost fell off his horse.

What to do?

It is to lead the army to fight to the death with the Huns, fight to the death, if you can win, it can be regarded as making up for the merits, and at the same time avenge the soldiers of the border army who died in the battle.

However, today's border army is no longer the invincible army that Meng Tian commanded. Julu was defeated, known as the 200,000 army of the Qin State border army group, lost nearly 100,000 elites at once, and finally with the help of Li Yuan, Wang Li and Su Jiao led the remnants back to Hetao, but then the border army generals were internal, but there were different opinions, after Su Jiao, Yang Wengzi, Menghu and other Mengtian's old troops left, although the border army under Wang Li's command retained the backbone, but the strength was not as strong as when it was at its strongest.

Today, the total strength of the border army is about 30,000 people, and Gaoque City lost 7,000 people in a battle, accounting for nearly a quarter of the total strength of the border army.

The remaining 20,000 border troops are scattered in Jiuyuan, Yongquan, Gaonu and other cities, such as Jiuyuan, only 5,000 people, once the Huns enter the hinterland, the border army will be defenseless.

There is no way to fight.

Wang Li had no choice but to report to Chang'an on the one hand, and on the other hand sent messengers to Yunzhong, Yandai and Longxi and other surrounding counties to ask for reinforcements.

Among the three places, Yunzhong County is stationed with Su Jiao's men and horses, which is the closest to Jiuyuan, and it is also Wang Li's most sure support army, Su Jiao and he are the border army generals of the year, although when the Qin army attacked Zhaodi, Su Jiao led the headquarters of the people to attack Yunzhong and Hedong, which is considered to be out of the border army system, but in terms of personal friendship, Wang Li and him are still good.

In addition to the two Qin generals of Yandi, Han Xin, Yang Wengzi and Wang Li, the relationship is not harmonious, but also because of the important nodes of the two places, Mayi City is being attacked by the Xiongnu Zuoxian King Qiu Lijin, and the Qin army in Yanbei is difficult to come to the rescue.

As for the direction of Longxi, Wang Li is not sure how many soldiers and horses are still stationed here, Longxi and Hexi are only separated by a river, when the battle of Hexi is becoming more and more fierce, the Qin army in Longxi may be transferred to the west at any time, if the army in the county is empty, then the rush to the Hetao can not go.

The Huns ravaged the Hetao.

The Xiongnu tribes were like wolves wading into the flock, looting everything that could be found on both sides of the river, and by the time the king's tent of Maodun arrived at Gaoque City, the Xiongnu tribes had tossed the Hetao grassland into a mess.

――。

Changan.

With the arrival of the emergency military situation in Hetao, the people in Guanzhong began to become more and more uneasy, and the Huns' invasion this time was completely different from the previous small fights, but they invaded with all their might, for a full six months. In the northern border of the Qin State, from the easternmost Yandi to the westernmost Hexi, beacons were everywhere.

Now, it is the turn of the war in Henan, which is the closest to Guanzhong, and judging from the news that has come one after another, Wang Xu, the Hun Dadanyu, has also appeared.

Daqin, what's wrong?

In the first two years, the Qin army also wanted Yandi and Hexi to defeat the Huns, capturing nearly 10,000 enemies, which was less than two years. Where is the Qin army, which was invincible and destroyed the Kwantung princes?

"Martial King, what's wrong? Why hasn't it appeared yet, is it possible that Daqin is going to fall apart again after a short period of revival? ”

"Let's go to the Shenhou Mansion and wait, no matter what happens to King Wu, there must always be a saying, if King Wu really has any accidents, he should also choose a new king as soon as possible."

Before the new Qin, the so-called states established by the princes of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. In fact, it is just a private domain for princes to do whatever they want, and the people of various countries are slaves who work hard in the territory, and they work hard every year just to be able to feed their families.

As for dignity as a human being. For ordinary people, it is undoubtedly an unattainable luxury.

The people's hearts are united.

It's imperceptible.

Just when foreign enemies invaded and Great Qin fell into a crisis, they suddenly gathered together. This has never been done since the establishment of the Qin State. Even during the reign of the First Emperor, most of the people of Qin were silently carrying out orders from the central government, and they were like machines without thoughts. Just know to give everything in your place.

And now, under Li Yuan's rule, a vibrant new country is gradually taking shape, which not only gives the people of Qin a stable life, but also allows the concept of "equality, freedom, and mutual love" to slowly penetrate into the hearts of the Qin people. The busy scene on the streets of Chang'an makes the Qin people full of happiness; And the life and death of Li Yuan, the leader of the way, made them even more worried and prayed for it.

In front of the Shenwu Palace.

On the long street, more and more people gathered, and in the mansion, although Li Yuan, who had not been seen for many days, looked a little tired, his body did not look like a serious illness as rumored.

Next to Li Yuan, Cao Xin, a one-eyed rough man, was excited, and the grievances of the past few days made him have an urge to tell Li Yuan when he saw him.

"King Wu, you are back, if you don't reply, even if the letter puts on a fierce appearance, it will not be able to scare the people outside the door." Cao Xin pressed his saber and said loudly.

"General Cao, it is not easy to convince the Huns' spies that I am seriously ill. Now is the time to teach the Huns a profound lesson. Li Yuan's eyes flashed, and the fierce murderous aura spread all over his body.

Called the illness not seen this period of time.

Li Yuan actually did not stay far from Guanzhong, he mysteriously arrived at the military construction located in Fushui, where the second division Peng Yue had an accident while researching the "Heavenly Fire", according to scientific terms, it was due to a problem in the proportional allocation of black powder in the development of black powder, which caused the entire military construction to lose nearly half of the craftsmen in charge of the Heavenly Fire.

Without professional guidance, relying on some alchemy experience alone, it is difficult to stably obtain the more powerful "Tianhuo", Li Yuan was in the period of frustration, is to work with Peng Sheng to study and obtain the stable formula of "black powder", at the same time, he also hopes to take this opportunity to give Peng Sheng and others some guidance, help them continue to deepen the trajectory of the development of gunpowder history.

The future of the Qin state.

Weapons that are more powerful than iron weapons are needed, although they can't leap from the era of cold weapons to the age of hot weapons at once, but if there are some attempts to allow the Qin army to obtain more reliable advanced weapons, Li Yuan thinks it is still possible. (To be continued......)