Big man: I am the Champion Marquis!

Chapter 92: Broad-minded Champion

After experiencing flying sand and rocks, no birds in the sky, altitude sickness and cold, Huo Xian led the army successfully into Dayuan.

The two armies have already joined together and are about to begin preparing for the next battle.

As one of the stronger city-states in Dayuan, Yucheng City also had the confidence because they defeated the Han army last year, and King Yucheng had a good relationship with Kangju, so they became more and more complacent.

Li Guangli was in mixed feelings. Last year he was defeated at the city of Yucheng and suffered heavy losses and had to return home in disgrace.

"General, the city ahead is Yucheng. It is strong and has deep moats. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack." Li Guangli said without caring about his appearance. "Two hundred miles to the west is Guishan City, the capital of Dayuan."

Yucheng City is the eastern border of Dayuan State and can be regarded as the most important gateway to the east of Dayuan.

Huo Xian nodded slightly and looked at Li Guangli, "General Ershi, what do you think if I let you trap Yu Chengcheng?"

Li Guangli suddenly said excitedly, "General, I was defeated in the battle last year and lost many soldiers and generals. I have been thinking about avenging my previous defeat every day and night."

"You don't need to worry now. We are going to win a great victory this time." Huo Xian said with a smile, "General Yucheng, do you think we should attack Yucheng City first, or go around and attack Guishan City directly?"

Gongsun Ao thought about it carefully and said, "General, we have a lot of siege equipment now. It won't be difficult to break through Yucheng City, but I'm afraid it will take some time."

These are some of the differences between Dayuan and the Xiongnu. Dayuan was a city-state and settlement system, and some cities here had strong walls and fortresses.

Even before destroying several small villages along the way, Huo Xian also saw some Hellenistic sculptures from textbooks.

Villages and towns are becoming fortresses, and cities and towns are becoming fortresses.

A large number of cities here have strong walls, which are built against the mountains and defended by dangerous places. These walls use a lot of brick and stone structures. Judging from the construction technology alone, they are not necessarily worse than some Han cities.

"The most important thing for us is to seize the time. Taking down Guishan City as soon as possible is our top priority." Huo Xian knew the urgency of time and said, "But we have to fight for Yucheng City as well."

We suffered heavy casualties in this city last year. It would still be a joke if we cannot avenge ourselves this year.

However, we also have to consider the urgency of time. We must hurry to capture Guishan City, the capital of Dayuan. This means that we cannot spend too long in Yucheng City.

Huo Xian turned his head to look at Zhao Anguo and asked, "Where are the Wusun cavalry?"

Zhao Anguo immediately said indignantly, "General, I'm afraid Wusun is in two minds. They sent 3,000 cavalry to accompany us, but they never moved forward and fell far behind the main army."

The King of Wusun sent troops, including 3,000 cavalrymen at the invitation of Huo Xian, and also brought some baggage and fodder as supplies.

But don’t think that Wusun and the Han Dynasty formed an alliance. These 3,000 cavalrymen were just following the Han army.

Their attitude was still wavering. They sent troops only because they could not refuse the kindness, and they had no intention of going to war with Dayuan directly.

Therefore, the Wusun cavalry hesitated, with no intention of fighting at all, but more of gathering numbers and watching the fun. Perhaps they would strike when they felt they had a chance to take advantage.

Huo Xian smiled and said, "I didn't intend to count on them. I still have to rely on my Han men to conquer Dayuan."

Inviting Wusun was just a test, and Huo Xian did not expect Wusun to actually send troops to join the war.

Now there are three thousand Wusun cavalry following us. This can be considered as a gesture of goodwill. It is unrealistic to expect them to overcome difficulties.

"Rest for two days." Huo Xian said, "Kill the livestock you brought with you, and let the men eat and drink well."

We have already reached Dayuan, so apart from some necessary baggage, it is time to get rid of the few remaining livestock, which in themselves are just some food rations.

As for the return trip, we still have Dayuan. If we conquer Dayuan, we will have enough food supplies. The baggage and other things brought by the army are originally a "one-way" budget.

They slaughtered cattle and sheep again. The Han army soldiers, who were going on their first expedition, did not think there was anything wrong with it. They just felt that traveling for half a year was really hard.

Crossing the Gobi Desert, climbing snow-capped mountains, etc., it can be said that everyone was under a lot of pressure during this march. Fortunately, there was basically no need to worry about food and drink.

The soldiers who came to Yucheng City for the second time had a lot of feelings. When they came here last year, they were like beggars. Not only did they lack clothes and food, but they were all exhausted.

Although some soldiers died on the march due to acclimatization during this expedition, it was much better than the non-combat casualties during the first expedition.

Huo Xian thought the roasted lamb with some chopped green onions tasted pretty good. Although he wanted to eat some vegetables to relieve the greasiness, the conditions did not allow it.

We can overcome this temporarily. When early summer comes, there will be a lot of green plants in Dayuan, and we will have enough vegetables and so on.

In the military tent, Huo Xian said, "General Yucheng, tomorrow you will lead 3,000 cavalry to challenge the enemy and see if the garrison commander Yucheng will fight."

"I'm afraid it's going to be very bad." Gongsun Ao said with a smile, "My army has not concealed its tracks along the way, and these Dayuan people have not dared to harass us. I am even surprised. Have we reached Dayuan?"

After listening to Gongsun Ao's words, everyone couldn't help but laugh. There was really nothing wrong with what he said.

The Han army did not hide their whereabouts, which means that everyone in Dayuan must have known that the Han army was coming again. Theoretically, Dayuan might set up ambushes, harassment, etc., but for the time being, there was almost no movement. On the contrary, some small villages and towns along the way wanted to defend themselves, but unfortunately their forts could not withstand the attack of the Han army.

"Most of these people are afraid." Li Guangli also said, "Last year, when I led the army all the way here, the Dayuan people also hid in the city and dared not come out."

This is also a characteristic of Dayuan. As a city-state country, it seems to have a central government, but the small city-states under it may not be united.

A city-state like Yucheng City, which seems to be quite powerful, can only muster a few thousand soldiers.

Not to mention the tens of thousands of troops this time, even if they had seen Li Guangli's previous thousands of troops, they would not dare to act rashly.

For Dayuan, if they could defend the city from being breached by the Han army and wait until winter when the Han army ran out of food, it would be a victory.

"We should still challenge them. If they get confused, we will win." Huo Xian said with a smile, "We won last year. Maybe these Dayuan people underestimated us."

Li Guangli was extremely embarrassed, but he didn't dare to say anything at this time. He just wanted to avoid making mistakes so that he could be granted a title of nobility after returning to the court.

It was true that they had lost many soldiers and generals before, but they had also destroyed Luntai in the Western Regions, which was also a merit of destroying a country. If Your Majesty did not care about the losses in the first battle, Li Guangli felt that he still had a chance to be made a marquis.

It seemed that the army was already at the gates of the city, and had basically completed the most difficult part of the march, but this was not enough.

Huo Xian looked at Zhao Anguo and said, "You lead the scouts out to find a way to bypass Yucheng City and go to Guishan City. Capture more guides and make sure to get the answers clearly."

No one thought there was anything wrong with bypassing Yucheng City and attacking Guishan City directly.

Li Guangli fought to the death at Yucheng City last year because he was seriously short of supplies. He wanted to capture a small city for supplies and to survive the cold winter, but that was no other choice.

But now the army is different. They will bypass Yucheng City and attack the capital of Dayuan. It is said that the distance is only more than 200 miles, and the baggage can keep up.

If we take Guishan City first, we will be invincible this time. Moreover, attacking Guishan City might attract reinforcements from Yucheng City.

After all, Dayuan nominally consists of more than 70 city-states. If they gather together, they might be able to squeeze out an army of 20,000 or 30,000.

Gongsun Ao was a little worried. "General, if we go straight to Guishan City, our retreat route will probably be cut off by Yucheng City, and they can also send out troops."

"It's not easy to rush to help." Huo Xian said, "Leave Li Ling with 3,000 soldiers to guard the city. If the Lord of Yucheng City leaves the city, shoot him back with arrows and crossbows."

Since Huo Xian had considered these things, Gongsun Ao stopped reminding him. He did not think there was anything wrong with such a strategy.

If the people of Yucheng City stay in the city, they will only waste the army's baggage and time, and the Han army can't wait. But if they choose to leave the city, let them have a taste of the Han army's bows and crossbows.

The most important thing is that Li Ling's 3,000 infantrymen are not a decisive battle force. They are just to consume and tie down some reinforcements. This is enough.

As for whether Li Ling would want to follow the main force to attack Guishan City, that was not up to him to choose.

If Li Ling had been a little sensible, he would not have been picky. He was just a captain who had never fought in a war. Now he was able to independently lead a small group of people to carry out individual missions. This was a great responsibility and trust in him.

If he really did make a contribution, he should also thank Marquis Guanjun for not holding grudges and not being so generous as to employ him because of some dirty deeds of the Huo and Li families.

suppress?

This is not suppression. Guan Jun Hou has always been broad-minded and he only looks at the ability when hiring people.

Li Guangli was considered a possible check and balance. This General Ershi had previously made contributions in destroying the country, and that was the opportunity given by Guanjun Hou.

Now that Li Ling is surrounded and blocked, it is also an opportunity for him to make meritorious service. It depends on whether he can seize it.

After a brief rest, the army began to launch some exploratory attacks.

As a result, before Gongsun Ao approached the city of Yucheng, arrows rained down from the city walls. The soldiers of Dayuan were entertaining the Han army in their own way.

Huo Xian looked into the distance and said, "As expected, these people are not planning to go out of the city to fight in the field. They are planning to waste time with us."

Feng Dan asked, "Sir, we still have a lot of craftsmen and equipment. We can attack the city!"

"Shut up!" Chen Ju cursed. "Your Excellency is commanding the battle, who allowed you to talk too much? Perhaps your Excellency has always been tolerant of you, and you have even forgotten the rules?! If you talk too much, I will kill you!"

Feng Dan quickly admitted his mistake, saying that he was just a family general and not a real soldier.

Gongsun Ao rode over and said, "Sir, the men retreated before they could get forward."

Huo Xian smiled and nodded, "This King Yucheng really doesn't plan to come out, let's go around him."

(End of this chapter)