Big man: I am the Champion Marquis!

Chapter 93: Forced to Fight
King Yucheng was undoubtedly anxious. Looking at the dense Han army outside the city, he could now understand why the Huns had been defeated several times by the Han.

Last year's army, which was half-clad and looked like vagrants, was definitely not what the Han army should look like.

He didn't dare to leave the city at all. Some people from villages and towns who had escaped had previously reported back that the Han army was fierce, and now King Yucheng had witnessed it.

He wanted to rely on the city's solid defense. If he could defeat the Han army this time, he would be the hero of Dayuan. By then, he would be the most prominent among all the city-states, and even Kangju and other countries would not dare to underestimate him.

It was impossible to leave the city. No matter how the Han army provoked him, King Yucheng had no intention of leaving the city, and his soldiers also had the same idea. Relying on the solid city defense to defend it, not losing the city was victory.

However, when he suddenly saw the Han army start to break camp and march westward, King Yucheng couldn't help but feel a little worried.

He suspected that this was a tactic of the Han army to lure the enemy out of the city, hoping to make a feint and then attack back.

But the situation seemed to be getting more and more wrong. It didn't seem like the Han army was planning to trick him out of the city. Instead, it seemed more like the Han army was planning to bypass Yucheng City and head straight for the capital Guishan City!

This made King Yucheng even more worried. If the Han army was blocked at the gates of Yucheng City, he would be a hero of Dayuan and all the city-states would have to give him face.

But when the Han army bypassed Yucheng City and headed straight for Guishan City, he became a sinner. Whether he won or lost, it would be difficult for him to have a good ending.

If the Han army wins, they will most likely attack Yucheng City with all their might on their way back.

But after the Han army was defeated, he had no way to explain to the king why he watched the Han army bypass the city instead of attacking with all his strength!

"Li Ling, your 3,000 men should guard this road." Huo Xian looked at Li Ling seriously and said, "You don't need to chase them, you just need to delay the reinforcements sent by King Yucheng."

Li Ling clasped his fists and said, "I will obey the orders of the General of Cavalry."

"You have enough arrows, but you still need to use them sparingly." Huo Xian continued, "Delay King Yucheng's troops for 30 days. You can let a small part of his troops cross the defense line, but the majority of the cavalry is not allowed to cross the line."

This was undoubtedly a challenge, as Li Ling's troops were all infantry, while King Yu Cheng's troops had a small number of cavalry.

But Li Ling didn't think it was a big problem. In theory, infantry was at a disadvantage against cavalry, but it definitely didn't mean that infantry had no way to kill the enemy.

Not to mention that it is just a diversion now, even if it is a head-on confrontation, as long as there are enough arrows, Li Ling has the courage to fight.

Huo Xian led the cavalry to support the battle and kept an eye on the movements in the rear. "Does King Yucheng intend to defend to the death? Why doesn't he say he will go out of the city to pursue us?"

Ren An said flatteringly, "Most likely they are afraid of the general's reputation and dare not leave the city."

Huo Xian gave the order, "Order the vanguard to speed up the march and get to Guishan City as soon as possible. If you encounter a small group of enemies along the way, just ignore them."

Ren An immediately went to convey the military order. Although many people were disappointed with King Yu Cheng's reluctance to come out, they did not pay too much attention to it.

The most important thing is to capture Guishan City, which is the capital of Dayuan.

The information we have received now is that there are more than 70 cities and towns, with the capital at Guishan City, with 60,000 households, 300,000 people, and 60,000 cavalry.

The capital of the king, Guishan City, was built on the mountain, with stones piled up, and the front was winding along the undulating terrain, with a steep situation. Behind the city, there were cliffs towering into the clouds, with layers of exposed rocks, caves and steep caves, making it difficult for birds to cross.

What's more, Guishan City consists of the outer city and the inner city. The inner city is on a high hill. It is not an easy task to completely capture it.

There is no doubt that this is also a place with steep terrain, and it is also a place that is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Through interrogation of captured prisoners, it was learned that the Guishan City wall was three meters high, and there was a cliff three or four meters high outside the wall.

However, Huo Xian also felt that it was right for him to bring a lot of craftsmen, because whether it was Guishan City, Yucheng City, or Ershi City, they were all built in the tributary basins of Xierhe.

The entire Dayuan was basically built in the Fergana Basin.

After setting up camp again, Gongsun Ao found Huo Xian and said, "General, I'm afraid Marquis Bowang remembered it wrongly. Ershi City is not a place to raise horses, Guishan City is."

Huo Xian explained, "Marquis Bowang may not have remembered it wrongly. Dayuan was probably also divided into fiefdoms, and each city was called a king."

Gongsun Ao could understand this explanation, because that was how the Han Dynasty was divided up now.

The current situation in Dayuan is more like that of the Han Dynasty before the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion. Each city-state is relatively independent and has its own military and political power.

"Then should we attack Ershi City?" Gongsun Ao asked the key question. "If we take Guishan City, and then go south 200 miles and then turn back to attack Yucheng City, I'm afraid we won't be able to make it in time."

The Han Dynasty had already done a lot of intelligence gathering before sending out troops, so it appointed Li Guangli as General Ershi, because that was the breeding ground of the Ferghana horses that it had received intelligence about.

Theoretically speaking, Li Guangli's title of general represents his mission.

By the same token, Gongsun Ao's title as General Yu Cheng this time means his mission and responsibility.

"It depends on the situation. If the battle goes well, I think we can take back some more horses." Huo Xian said with a smile, "These celestial horses are really good, but I just don't have enough time, otherwise I have to train the horses."

Huo Xian's current mount is still a Wusun horse, because horses cannot be ridden just by catching them. Only after training can they become riding horses. Riding horses are considered war horses after training. Many horses also recognize their owners, and the temper of the Ferghana horses is also quite violent, so it is not so easy to tame.

It is true that Huo Xian was delighted to see the prey, but unfortunately he could only endure his restlessness and continue to lead his troops to fight.

There is no general who doesn't like BMW, so Gongsun Ao agreed with some of Huo Xian's statements.

Although we have not captured some of Dayuan’s important cities, we have captured some small villages and towns and taken some prisoners.

The Ferghana horses were very valuable in Dayuan, so Huo Xian and others only seized three Ferghana horses, and the rest were some Mongolian horses, Wusun horses and other less valuable horses.

It is no exaggeration to say that Huo Xian and others were attracted by the Ferghana horses.

A horse was previously introduced from Wusun, which was stronger than the native horses of the Han Dynasty.

Nowadays, these Arabian horses can be 1.5 to 1.6 meters tall, which are more majestic than the common native horses and Mongolian horses whose shoulder height is 1.2 to 1.3 meters.

These Arabian horses are the real tall and mighty horses.

The Arabian horse has a thin head, a high neck, long limbs, thin skin and fine hair, light steps, great strength, great speed and great endurance, which are rare advantages.

As for the Arabian horse, its load-bearing capacity is relatively poor and its body is relatively slender, which seems to prevent it from becoming the best war horse.

However, this statement cannot be made so absolutely. The more important task of bringing the Ferghana horses back to the Han Dynasty was to continue to help improve the horse breed.

The Han Dynasty would not use the Ferghana horses as slow horses or as pack horses. They only needed a small number of them as war horses for light cavalry.

Improving horse breeds is a major event for any dynasty that attaches importance to cavalry. The Ferghana horse is the seed of the Han Dynasty's continuous improvement of horse breeds.

If we succeed in conquering Dayuan and recapture some Ferghana horses, their destination will be the Shandan Military Horse Farm, where they will happily reproduce on the Damaying grassland.

The army continued to march towards Guishan City. Zhao Anguo suddenly came to report happily, "General, we just defeated more than a hundred cavalry harassment."

Huo Xian immediately perked up and asked, "How strong are these people?"

Zhao Anguo said confidently, "They don't look like elite troops, just stragglers. Their armor is not complete, and those who have armor are mostly leather armor."

Huo Xian understood immediately, "So, these people are not much different from the Xiongnu cavalry. But we still need to be careful and spread out the scouts to prevent harassment from the Dayuan people."

Huo Xian and others did not find it strange that the Dayuan people began to harass them. This was also within their expectations.

The army headed straight for Guishan City. It would be truly strange if the Dayuan people did not make any statement.

Huo Xian was in a good mood and said to Zhao Anguo, "Order General Ershi's vanguard to control the speed and see if there are any reinforcements in the cities of Dayuan."

Giving Dayuan more time to gather troops seems to be somewhat inconsistent with the art of war, and it is simply creating artificial difficulties.

However, Huo Xian did so. He hoped that Dayuan could gather its forces. Dayuan claimed to have 60,000 soldiers, but many times the number of troops was exaggerated.

Moreover, judging from the military strength and equipment of Dayuan that we have seen so far, even if there are really 60,000 troops, Huo Xian would not feel too much pressure.

Gongsun Ao understood what Huo Xian meant, "General, they are worried that the cities of Dayuan will not be able to rush back to the capital to provide assistance. Give them some time."

Huo Xian smiled and said, "That's right. I also think there are not enough Dayuan people in Guishan City. Let's see if there are any villages and towns along the way. If we find any, we will destroy them."

It was also Huo Xian's job to strengthen Dayuan and let the armies of city-states from all over the country come to support the king.

This was clearly an attempt to find an opportunity for a decisive battle, in order to completely defeat Dayuan's military power in one fell swoop. Otherwise, it would be too difficult to attack city-states one by one.

After all, there are not many war windows left for Huo Xian and others, and time is still very tight for the Han army, so it is not easy to find an opportunity for a decisive battle.

Zhao Anguo volunteered, "Sir, I will lead the cavalry to attack, destroy some towns, and let some Dayuan people go."

"Drive them towards Guishan City." Huo Xian continued to make arrangements, saying, "Don't wipe out all their troops coming to the king in one go. We should weaken their fighting spirit and force them into the city."

The Macedonian Phalanx is not that mysterious. Some tactics used more than two hundred years ago may not be useful now.

The most important thing is that Dayuan’s iron smelting level is not as high as imagined.

This time, Huo Xian did not intend to use tactics such as large detours and surprise attacks. He just wanted to advance step by step, force Dayuan into a decisive battle, and take the opportunity to destroy Dayuan's war potential in one fell swoop.

After all, this place is too far away from the Han Dynasty. Weakening Dayuan would also weaken the Xiongnu, Kangju and other countries.

(End of this chapter)