roccoschili Chapter 1409 Frontier Fortress
Chapter 1409 Frontier Fortress
Chapter 1409 Frontier Fortress
In the summer of the twelfth year of Yan Xi, the grassland at the foot of Danhan Mountain was at its most beautiful.
In the distance, the Yinshan Mountains stand majestically, with snow on the tops still covering them, sparkling silver in the sun.
Nearby, on the meadow at the foot of Mount Danhan, patches of golden lotus flowers are in full bloom. The petals are as bright as gold, swaying in the wind, and emitting a faint fragrance.
A few rays of golden sunlight penetrated the clouds and sprinkled on the vast grassland.
Dewdrops hang on the grass leaves, crystal clear, like pearls scattered on the earth.
The mountains in the distance are looming in the morning mist, like an ink painting.
The golden lotus bloomed quietly in the morning light, and the petals were still covered with night dew, making them look particularly beautiful.
They cluster together, like a golden carpet covering the grassland. The breeze blows, and the sea of flowers ripples, and the golden petals sparkle in the sun.
The early morning sun shines on the vast grassland, with golden light interweaving with the green grass waves, as if a huge splendid painting was spread out between heaven and earth.
This is a unique beauty on the southern foot of Danhan Mountain, unique in the world.
In history, Danhan Mountain would become the Xianbei Khanate, a place for the Xianbei people to worship the heavens, and also the base camp for the Xianbei people to move south to the Central Plains.
But at this time, the head of the bronze wolf statue originally used by the Xianbei people for worshipping the sky had been chopped off, leaving only a headless wolf body.
Next to the wolf's body stood a stone tablet with the words "Han Zhendong General Guan surrendered 300,000 Xianbei people here" engraved on it.
The big characters were bloody red, as if the blood had not yet dried.
Ever since General Guan conquered the Muluhui Xianbei and annihilated the Tuoba Xianbei, the former Western Xianbei and Central Xianbei have completely disappeared in the long river of history.
The remaining tribes have fled in all directions and are unable to make a difference.
If the Eastern Xianbei had not crossed the Bailang Mountain to the west, the northern part of Youzhou could have maintained stability for at least ten years.
General Zhendong, the greatest contributor to this battle, was standing on a high place at this time, squinting his eyes slightly and looking to the south, to be precise, towards Juyongguan.
Her gaze seemed to be able to see through Yanshan Mountain and clearly see the battlefield in front of Juyongguan.
At the same time, Wei's defender, General Xianyu Fu, also stood on the city wall, looking to the north. Although his face was calm as water, the faint flicker in his eyes revealed a hint of uneasiness in his heart.
The towering city walls of Juyongguan are built against the mountain, like a giant dragon entwined in the mountains.
There are steep cliffs on both sides of the pass, and there is only a narrow mountain road leading to the pass, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.
A low horn sounded in the distance, followed by the thundering of horse hooves and the rise of dust.
I saw a cavalry unit galloping from the end of the mountain road.
Their attire was completely different from that of the Central Plains army. They wore leather armor, fur hats, and held scimitars. They were the Xianbei cavalry!
"coming!"
Xian Yu Fu was startled and immediately gave the order: "All troops on alert! Archers ready!"
The Wei army, which had been prepared, quickly took up their positions, and the archers drew their arrows, ready to aim at the Xianbei cavalry in the distance.
The Xianbei cavalry vanguard stopped at a distance of an arrow from the pass. The leading general raised his scimitar and shouted in stiff Chinese:
"Listen up, Wei's defenders! We, the Xianbei warriors, are here to take Juyong Pass today. If you know what's best for you, open the gate and surrender immediately. Otherwise, we will kill you without mercy!"
Xian Yu Fu had an angry look on his face, and gritted his teeth and said, "The Diyi are as rude as animals. They formed an alliance with our Great Wei before, but were exterminated by the Han army. Now they have betrayed the alliance, succumbed to their enemies, and come to our Great Wei territory? Shoot them!"
With his order, arrows rained down from the city wall.
Just as in drill, the Xianbei cavalry quickly retreated before the rain of arrows fell.
Soon, after adjusting their formation, they rushed forward again.
This time, they dispersed and used the mobility of horses to maneuver left and right in front of the pass, trying to disrupt the Wei army's defense.
Xian Yufu saw this and immediately ordered: "Ready the Thunderbolt Chariots, aim at the densely packed enemy area, and fire!"
Huge stones flew out from the city wall and hit the Xianbei cavalry.
The Xianbei cavalry were skilled in riding and shooting and had strong mobility, but siege capability was not their strong point, let alone in front of a strong pass.
Xianyu Fu stood on the city wall, his face expressionless.
If they wanted to attack by force, it would be in vain, not to mention these Hu cavalry, even if their masters, the Han army, came behind them, they would die.
Sure enough, the battle lasted for a whole hour, and the Xianbei cavalry was unable to break through the Wei army's defense line.
As casualties mounted, morale declined.
Seeing that the situation was not good, the Xianbei general had no choice but to order a retreat.
It comes like a wave and goes like a tide.
The Xianbei cavalry retreated like a tide, leaving behind even the hundreds of corpses in front of the pass, and hurriedly disappeared on the distant mountain road.
The morale of the Wei army at the pass was high and they cheered loudly.
They could no longer remember how many times they had defeated the Xianbei's attacks in the past three months.
But defeating the Hu dogs' invasion dozens of times in a row made them feel extremely confident, as if no matter how powerful the enemy was, it was no match for them.
"Congratulations to General Xianyu for defeating the enemy's invasion again."
Wang Xiong, the governor of Youzhou, who had been afraid to disturb Xianyu Fu's command of the battle, stood up and spoke to Xianyu Fu with a smile on his face as if he was relieved when he saw the Xianbei cavalry fleeing in panic.
As the governor of Youzhou, he should have been stationed in Ji County and provided support to other parts of Youzhou.
But Wang Xiong has a good background, a good reputation, and good means, otherwise he would not have forced Tian Yu away.
It can even be said that he is qualified in this aspect of pastoral defense.
Otherwise, why would he have advocated pacifying the Hu people north of Youzhou so that the Wei State could focus its main attention on Guanzhong?
The only thing is that he is a little bit unbearable in terms of leadership.
After Sima Yi took control of Hebei, a letter brought him to his knees in an instant.
In addition, Youzhou was seriously short of troops and was not strong enough to fight against Sima Yi's army.
On the other hand, he himself has no ability to lead troops.
In this battle in Hebei, if Sima Yi did not send reinforcements, let alone General Guan’s appearance, I am afraid that the Xianbei people alone would be enough to break through the Youzhou Pass.
Wang Xiong, who knew his own abilities, did not object to the fact that the people sent by Sima Yi took control of the military power of Youzhou. Instead, he took the initiative to raise food and fodder to supply the army.
Juyongguan is the most important pass in Youzhou and also the closest pass to Jixian, the capital of Youzhou. Wang Xiong even personally escorted food and fodder there from time to time.
This time, they happened to encounter the Xianbei people attacking the city.
However, Xian Yu Fu did not show any happiness at all in response to Wang Xiong's slightly flattering words.
He turned around and whispered to Wang Xiong:
"Sir, the Xianbei Hu people have lost their courage after their clan was exterminated. According to the Hu people who fled to the border, the number of Han troops on the grassland ranges from hundreds of thousands to several million."
"In Yi Fu's opinion, hundreds of thousands are too exaggerated, and hundreds of thousands are hard to say, but there must be tens of thousands, otherwise how could a tribe of hundreds of thousands be destroyed so easily?"
"Moreover, over the past few months, these barbarians who should have been discouraged have been able to attack the city again and again. They have been defeated repeatedly but have not fled. This can only mean that someone has reorganized them."
Wang Xiong immediately understood what was going on when he heard this: "Han army?"
Xian Yufu nodded with a heavy expression:
"The fact that the Hu people were so frightened just shows that there are quite a few Han troops on the grassland."
When Wang Xiong heard this, his expression turned grim.
I only heard Xian Yufu continue to say:
"And such a large number of Han troops have only allowed the frightened Hu people to forcibly attack the city for several months, while they have been hiding behind and not showing up. I'm afraid they have big plans."
As he spoke, his voice subconsciously lowered a little, "So I think these Xianbei Hu people are just a feint used by the Han army to attract our attention."
He looked towards the north again.
The general who had always maintained a calm image in front of the soldiers finally showed a rare look of worry in front of Wang Xiong:
"There must be a bigger conspiracy behind this, but I can't be sure of their real intentions..."
Wang Xiong also looked outside Juyong Pass and asked softly:
"Can't we send out scouts to investigate?"
Xian Yufu shook his head and smiled bitterly:
"Don't be afraid of being laughed at by the envoy. Our Wei scouts are far inferior to the Han scouts in terms of horses and equipment. Therefore, when the two meet, the Wei scouts usually end up being defeated."
"If we are closer to the army, it's fine. But if we are too far away, we will never come back."
He pointed outside the fortress and said, "There are countless enemy troops hiding outside this fortress. If we rush out rashly, we will just give away our lives in vain."
Although there are nominally nearly 200,000 troops in Hebei now, Xianyu Fu knows that nearly half of them are actually civilians hastily conscripted to fill the numbers.
No matter how tough the people of Yan were, the civilians who were temporarily gathered together could not compare with the well-trained elite soldiers.
Luoyang has been lost, and Henei is surrounded by enemies on both sides and needs to be heavily guarded.
The enemy chieftain Feng Ze personally led a large army to attack Jingxing. Although the Taihang Road was dangerous, the reputation of this thief was enough to mobilize half of the Hebei army to guard against him.
Now the garrisons at various passes along the Yanshan defense line are mostly composed of a small number of veteran soldiers mixed with a large number of new recruits.
It's okay to defend the pass, but it's absolutely impossible to take the initiative to attack.
Wang Xiong couldn't help but sigh when he heard this:
"What should we do? Are we just going to let them come and go as they please, and we can only sit and wait and get beaten?"
Xian Yufu was silent for a long time, and finally shook his head:
"With insufficient troops, there is nothing we can do except sit and defend."
After a pause, he pretended to be relaxed and said:
"Besides, we may not be beaten if we just sit there and defend. In the past three months, the bandits have attacked so many times, and have we ever gotten away with it? We are not the ones who get beaten."
Hearing this, Wang Xiong also forced a smile:
"The Han army has not yet revealed itself. According to General Fuguo's opinion, what are they most likely planning to do?"
"The Hu'er feinted to paralyze us, and then waited for the right opportunity to strike."
"Waiting for an opportunity?"
"Correct."
"Where to move?"
Xian Yu Fu shook his head again: "Your Excellency is making things difficult for me. If I knew where they would move, why would I have stayed here? How could you say that you didn't know their true intentions?"
Although Yanshan Mountain is a natural barrier in northern Hebei, it stretches for hundreds of miles with countless mountain streams and valleys. Not to mention the current defenders, even if there are several times more of them, it is impossible to plug all the loopholes.
It can only be said that it is blocking the big and looking down on the small, mainly blocking the three passes on the Taihang Mountains:
Jundu, Feihu, and Puyin.
With these three ridges as the core, more people were sent to guard the mouths of various mountain streams.
Once the enemy is discovered, troops will be dispatched immediately to defend against it.
However, these mountain stream estuaries are all hidden in the Yanshan Mountains, making it difficult for the army to pass through. If the army wants to forcibly cross the river, once it is blocked inside, it will be in danger of death and will not be able to retreat easily.
Therefore, as long as we send out patrols frequently and find the thieves early, there is no need to worry too much.
Wang Xiong seemed to realize that he had asked a stupid question, and couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed:
"I asked in a hurry. Well, I won't bother General Fuguo anymore. Yuyangguan City is still waiting for me to allocate manpower and food. I'll take my leave now."
When Xian Yufu heard Wang Xiong mention Yuyang Pass, his heart moved, and he finally understood where his worries came from:
"Wait a minute, sir!"
"Oh? What else does General Fuguo want?"
Xian Yufu hesitated for a moment, and finally asked:
"Although it may be a bit presumptuous, I still want to ask one more question: Can those Xianbei Hu people in the east be trusted? How confident are you, envoy?"
If it was something else, Wang Xiong might not be sure, but when it comes to the Hu people on the border of Youzhou, he becomes much more confident and calm.
After all, after he squeezed out Tian Yu, who advocated a tough stance against the Hu people, he had been pursuing a conciliatory policy towards the Hu people for so many years in Youzhou.
In fact, Wang Xiong played an indispensable role in helping Sima Yi get in touch with Tuoba Liwei so quickly - the only thing he didn't expect was that Tuoba Huer would be so useless.
After Kebi Neng, the border of Youzhou has been peaceful and without war for so many years, and Wang Xiong's policy of appeasement has obviously been effective.
"A month ago, I sent some Tuoba Xianbei who had fled into the Great Wall to the Buyao tribe. Their leader, Mo Huba, even personally sent a batch of cattle and sheep to the foot of Yuyang Pass to express his gratitude."
"This tribe is loyal to our Great Wei, and is happy to learn the Central Plains Han rituals. Now, some of the tribe members are proud to wear the Yan land's crown and step-shaking crown. With their help in guarding the border from Yuyang to Liaoxi and the land east of Bailang Mountain, there is no need to worry."
Xian Yufu reminded: "The Hu people are like beasts. Although the Buyao tribe is accustomed to Han etiquette, they are still different species. It is better to be careful."
Wang Xiong nodded and said, "General, please rest assured. Last time, Mo Huba drove his cattle and sheep to thank me, but I didn't let them enter Yuyang Pass. Wasn't that a sign of caution?"
As he spoke, there was some fear and pity in his tone:
"Think about how powerful the Tuoba tribe was, but they were all destroyed by the Han army in one blow. I only hope that when the Han army really dares to cross Bailang Mountain, the Buyao tribe can send a warning to the pass as soon as possible, which will be a great achievement."
Xian Yufu was relieved when he heard Wang Xiong's plan:
"So, the envoy had already made plans, and I was just overthinking it."
His gaze once again turned toward the outside of the Great Wall, but this time, it was not toward the north, but toward the northeast.
At the foot of Bailang Mountain, the swamp is hundreds of miles in radius. No matter whether it is a man or a horse, once trapped in it, if you are not rescued in time, you will be swallowed by the mud and water in a short time.
It has always been a forbidden area on the grassland.
At the same time, it was also a natural barrier to prevent the Han army from continuing to advance eastward, bypassing the three upper passes of Taihang Mountain and attacking the northeastern part of Youzhou.
However, Xianyu Fu had fought against General Zhendong during the Battle of Guanzhong, and he knew well how difficult it was to deal with the Winged Tigers of Hedong.
If Guan Yihu was really determined to travel eastward, and hoped that the hundreds of miles of swamps in Baihua Mountain could stop him, he would be dreaming.
Of course, Xianyu Fu secretly hoped that Guan Yihu would dare to continue eastward at this time and go deep into the northeast of Youzhou isolated and without any help.
If that was true, he had to admire this man's courage.
(End of this chapter)