Chaos of the Three Kingdoms Summons

Chapter 2734 Zhangye Returns, Battle of Youzhou

"General!"

"General!"

The general coughed up blood, and the soldiers around him were in chaos. Tuoba Ta, who was closest to him, rushed forward and tried to support the swaying Shi Le.

"Get out of my way, I'm fine!"

Using his hands to brace himself against the city wall, Shi Le gritted his teeth and stood up.

In his eyes, those three thousand heavy cavalrymen were more important than the twenty thousand men in the city.

Or rather, no matter where they are placed, 20,000 ordinary soldiers are certainly no match for 3,000 elite heavy cavalry.

This time, Shi Hu lost all of Shi Le's wealth.

What troubled Shi Le even more was that the loss of these three thousand heavy cavalry meant that he had lost more than half of the forces he could use for field battles.

However, if we rely on passive defense, there will eventually come a day when we can no longer hold our ground.

Furthermore, after this defeat, the morale in the city is about to be shaken.

"Qin Xing!" Shi Le quietly called over one of his trusted confidants.

This was not only his confidant, but also his sworn brother.

"You secretly spread the word in the city that the Jin army has ordered the massacre of three people after the city falls!"

Once they reached a secluded spot, Shi Le lowered his voice and gave the instructions.

"Brother! Don't worry! I will definitely handle this matter properly!" Qin Xing nodded.

Since this defeat would inevitably affect morale, Shi Le had to find a way to make up for it.

Then we'll drive the soldiers to their doom!
Spreading this false information forces everyone to fight to the death.

Wei Qing and Meng Tian joined forces and annihilated three thousand Black Spear Dragon Cavalry in one battle. For the Yuan Mongols, this loss was undoubtedly heartbreaking.

For a great empire like theirs, the loss of an elite battalion, while not crippling, would certainly be a profound blow.

However, the Yuan Mongols did not suffer defeats on every battlefield.

Not long after, Murong Chui personally moved back to Yicheng.

By feigning an attack on the Jin army's supply lines, they lured out Huo Qubing, who was lying in ambush.

However, Jebe countered the Jin army's attempt to outflank Murong Chui by launching a swift attack and gaining a slight advantage. He then withdrew quickly, taking what he could.

Although the Jin army lost less than a thousand cavalry in this battle, the death of their general Ma Dai was a loss, neither too great nor too small.

Murong Chui's cavalry tactics were much more flexible than Esen's.

After realizing the Jin army's cavalry tactics, he decisively abandoned the traditional tactic of flanking and attacking supply lines.

Instead, they used raids on supply lines as bait to lure out the ambushing enemy troops, then picked one of them to take a bite and leave.

After all, neither side's cavalry had the ability to wipe out the other in one fell swoop; they could only take small bites here and there, gradually weakening the other side.

Although the tactics Murong Chui used were not much different from those of Esen, what is truly powerful in this world is not the tactics themselves, but the person who uses them.

Murong Chui and Jebe of the Yuan Dynasty, and Huo Qubing and Dou Gu of the Jin Dynasty, engaged in a brutal cavalry battle on the front lines. Today you take one of my camps, tomorrow I'll raid one of your tribes; the two sides traded blows, neither able to gain the upper hand for the time being!

With Murong Chui by their side, it did indeed hinder Wei Qing and Meng Tian's siege.

Ashu dared to predict Esen's fighting style, but he dared not predict where Murong Chui would appear.

Fortunately, with the arrival of Wei Qing's troops, the Jin army now has sufficient manpower.

Even if a large number of troops are kept to defend against the enemy, enough troops can still be mobilized to attack the city.

However, with Murong Chui posing a threat from the outside, Huo Qubing and Dou Gu were unable to capture him.

Therefore, it took Wei Qing and Meng Tian a full month and a half to finally knock on the gates of this city in July of the sixth year of the Qianyuan era.

They killed enemy generals Tuoba Ta, Xiao Zhuobu, Yuan Xie, Qin Xing, and others, and the enemy's 20,000 troops were almost completely wiped out.

However, Shi Le, who was already prepared, still managed to break through the encirclement with a thousand cavalry.

Qu Chu led his men in pursuit, but nearly fell into Murong Chui's ambush. Fortunately, Huo Qubing arrived in time to help. The two sides' cavalry clashed, and after suffering losses on both sides, they retreated slowly for the time being.

However, in order to capture this city, the Jin army also lost 20,000 soldiers and more than 20,000 farmers.

From then on, after Wuwei Commandery, Zhangye Commandery also returned to the embrace of the Great Jin Dynasty.

Next, Liangzhou was left with only Jiuquan and Dunhuang, and of course, Zhangye, a vassal state.

However, although Zhangye State was considered a prefecture, it actually consisted of only one county.

Meanwhile, the troops of the Tuoba Khanate began to assemble in the direction of Youzhou.

The Tuoba Khanate was the weakest of the many khanates, and it was allocated the fewest pastures.

Therefore, they are simply not qualified to shoulder the heavy responsibility of confronting Youzhou.

To put it bluntly, the Tuoba Khanate's southward march to Youzhou was only an auxiliary operation; the real main force still depended on the Manchu Qing dynasty.

Kublai Khan sent the Tuoba Khanate and the Manchus south to Youzhou together, simply because he was afraid that the Manchus would disobey him and pretend to comply while secretly opposing him. He wanted the people of the Tuoba Khanate to keep an eye on them.

For the Yuan Mongols, their rule in the Tuoba Khanate, though not as stable, was fundamentally different from that of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

An unstable rule is still a rule, and this region was one they truly conquered by sending troops.

Moreover, the important officials of the Tuoba Khanate back then, such as Shi Le and Helian Bobo, as well as some members of the Yelü family, all actively rebelled against the Yuan Dynasty.

The most steadfast members of the Tuoba Wei forces had already perished in battle alongside Tuoba Gui.

Even so, most of the remaining members of the Tuoba clan and court officials were scattered to various places by Kublai Khan, making it impossible for them to communicate with each other.

Therefore, the rule of the Yuan Mongols here may not be so stable, but Yuan Hong did not yet have the ability to resist the Yuan Mongols.

As for the Manchus, it was truly difficult for the Yuan Mongols to effectively command them.

After all, that so-called vassal state was merely a stopgap measure for both sides. Everyone understood the underlying reasons.

However, even with repeated urging from the Tuoba Khanate, Xuan Ye continued to delay here.

They slowed down the troop deployment for various reasons, and even after finally deploying the troops, they delayed the advance again along the way for various reasons.

As a result, the fighting in Liangzhou had been going on for several months, but in Youzhou, it was not until the end of July that the Manchu cavalry slowly met up with Yuan Hong and leisurely arrived at the edge of Youzhou.