The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 681 Run!

Using these battle-hardened generals to attack the Tuoba tribe when the Tuoba tribe was in pieces was a dimensionality reduction attack.

Even the soldiers under Yang Hu's command could gain an absolute advantage against these people.

Fighting outside the Great Wall is a completely different concept from fighting in the Central Plains.

Success or failure is not determined by taking the royal city, nor can the situation be changed by capturing the enemy's important cities. It is about constantly fighting with the enemy, consuming their strength, and beating them until they can no longer fight and start to flee.

Fortunately, Guanqiu Jian was very good at this kind of battle.

Faced with the enemy's harassment and guerrilla warfare, Guanqiu Jian did not disperse his troops and let the cavalry protect his logistics and food routes. He himself waited for the enemy to launch a counterattack.

When people outside the Great Wall saw the Central Plains dynasty going to war, they liked to use such guerrilla tactics, harassing their logistics, constantly delaying time, waiting to drag them down from the logistics. The city was not important to them and could not pose a fatal threat.

But this was of no use to Guanqiu Jian.

Guanqiu Jian came prepared.

Yang Hu has been preparing for war in Youzhou these days. He has stockpiled a lot of food and fodder except for that.

Now all parts of Youzhou can serve as a solid logistical support for Guanqiu Jian.

With Yang Hu providing transportation guarantees, Guanqiu Jian could just delay the battle at the front line without any worries.

He actually wanted to know who would be the first to launch an attack.

This commander, who was always famous for his violent attacks, actually started a confrontation with others at this moment.

Wen Yang did not waste the opportunity. Their cavalry could run away, their commander could run away, but Shengle City was there and they could not escape.

After circumventing the enemy's cavalry, Wen Yang waited for an opportunity. When the enemy and Guanqiu Jian were in a stalemate, he suddenly attacked Shengle City.

Shengle City is still very majestic. Although it cannot compare with the giant cities in the Central Plains, it is not inferior to some border cities.

This city has witnessed the glory and achievements of Liwei over the years.

It is extremely difficult to capture this city, especially when only leading cavalry.

Even if Wen Yang didn't care about the casualties of his own men and wanted them to build siege equipment, the enemy would not let him build the machinery here with peace of mind and would definitely harass him endlessly.

Besides, how far would I have to go to find materials to build siege equipment in this damn place?!
Wen Yang looked at the majestic city in the distance and felt a little troubled for a moment.

After thinking for a long time, Wen Yang finally came up with a feasible solution. He gave up besieging the city and turned to attack the nearby Tuoba tribe. He captured the people in the tribe and then began to collect resources.

The Xianbei commander did not care about Wen Yang's destructive behavior. To them, the royal city was still worthy of their attention, while those tribes were nothing. If they lost this batch, they could still grab the next batch!
But Wen Yang did not simply plunder the tribe to gain merit for himself.

After defeating these tribes, he promoted several captives and asked them to lead many captives to cut down trees in preparation for the siege.

The area beyond the Great Wall is not just endless grassland; there are also mountains, forests and rivers.

But Tuoba Liwei was very smart. There were almost no dense forests around Shengle City, and they were consumed when the city was built, probably to prevent the situation like today.

Wen Yang didn't mind the trouble. He didn't want to play a game of pursuit with these people. No matter how long it took, he would first capture their royal city!
There was a fierce melee between the two sides when the war just started, but after that, they basically didn't fight each other. They basically just confronted each other and harassed each other from time to time.

This is why the enemies outside the Great Wall are so difficult to deal with.

But Guanqiu Jian was not worried about this. While the two sides were confronting each other, Yang Hu had already begun to empty the other party's property.

One tribe after another was taken away from Tuoba's territory, and Yang Hu traveled around to capture the tribesmen.

Tuoba still has a large population, hundreds of thousands of people!

Youzhou is in great need of manpower replenishment.

This move also completely angered Tuoba Chuo. In the past, cavalrymen from outside the Great Wall would be sent across the Great Wall to rob people and supplies.

Unexpectedly, they were robbed now!
Yang Hu, this shameless man, the dignified General Zhenbei of the Great Wei, actually went all out to plunder in Tuoba territory! !
It's really too much!
However, as the war progressed, the Tuoba tribe encountered serious logistical problems.

This is because of the style of play they adopted.

In order to maximize their mobility and avoid a head-on encounter with Guanqiu Jian, these people usually attacked on light cavalry, that is, without carrying livestock, only a small amount of food and water.

Food is replenished by tribes from all over the place, so that they can attack and escape at any time.

But when Yang Hu eliminated their "supply stations" one by one, their logistics would have problems. Guerrilla warfare is not so easy to fight. If you want to fight guerrilla warfare, you must at least ensure that there are supply stations everywhere. Guanqiu Jian obviously knew this.

Bad news came one after another, but Guanqiu Jian was not idle either. He continued to advance steadily, repelling the harassing cavalry along the way, breaking through the cities along the way, and getting closer and closer to Shengle.

In the temporary camp, Tuoba Chuo had a gloomy face and looked at the generals in front of him without saying a word.

These generals proposed many ideas, such as bypassing Guanqiu Jian and joining forces to attack Yang Hu.

This area outside the Great Wall should have been their home ground. They had nothing but a lot of war horses. With the high mobility of the cavalry, they could fly kites at will, forcing Guanqiu Jian to follow behind them. When they saw an opportunity, they would gather together to attack, and when there was no opportunity, they would scatter and run away.

But the gap in combat power now makes these tactics unlikely.

They can't beat it.

Tuoba Chuo had already tried it.

They divided their forces several times to attack Yang Hu's "logistics army", using six or seven thousand cavalry to besiege the enemy's three thousand infantry and cavalry.

But the outcome was a miserable defeat. They simply couldn't absorb the enemy's attacks. The enemy fired bows and crossbows at once. Before they could even reach the enemy, they had to fall down in large numbers. Even if they rushed forward, they couldn't break through the enemy's line and were instead left behind.

The generals under Yang Hu were also very angry. They didn't dare to attack the Grand Marshal, but came to attack us?

Do you really think we are a logistics army?
They were so ruthless that they almost killed all the Xianbei cavalry who came to attack them.

Tuoba Chuo felt ashamed. He couldn't even defeat the enemy's logistics, so what was the point of fighting?!
"Brother."

Official Lu stood up and said, "We can't fight like this anymore. Although Guanqiu Jian can't catch up with us, we can't stop him either. Our tribes and cities are not being preserved, and the situation is becoming more advantageous to them."

"Wen Yang is cutting down trees and having people build machines, and it will only take Guanqiu Jian a few days to reach the royal city."

"If Yang Hu hadn't been needed to take the captives away, he would have marched all the way to the royal city. If we just stood there and watched, sooner or later they would have forced us to the point where we couldn't fight anymore."

Guanqiu Jian advanced steadily and cautiously. Every time he conquered a place, he would wait for Yang Hu to deliver food and pick up people.

Yang Hu came with a full load and returned with a full load.

Guanqiu Jian went to the next place without stopping. The two of them cooperated very well, leaving the Tuoba tribe with nowhere to start.

This was the first time they encountered such a tough opponent.

In the past, they had fought against the Huns, and relying on guerrilla tactics, they managed to defeat the nomadic Huns. But that tactic did not work on Guanqiu Jian!
Tuoba Chuo looked at his younger brother. Because Tuoba Liwei was very old, the age difference between his children was quite obvious.

Tuoba Luguan is the youngest among them, only twenty years old. Although he is very young, he has already shown extraordinary military talent.

"So what do you think we should do?"

"We should conserve our strength and leave here."

"Wei's strength far exceeds ours. There's no point in continuing to confront them."

Tuoba Luguan looked at the others and said seriously, "The Tuoba civil strife was originally instigated by the Wei people. They have already made preparations. We are no match for them. My idea is that we leave here."

"leave??"

Hearing Lu Guan's words, several generals' eyes were filled with astonishment. Some looked at him angrily, "Prince, are you trying to persuade everyone to flee?"

"What about the royal city? What about my lord? Are we going to abandon our territory and our tribe?"

"We are all famous Xianbei warriors in our tribe. We really don't want to do such a thing! If you feel scared, you can leave on your own!"

Several people shouted.

Tuoba Luguan's expression did not change at all, he looked at his brother.

Tuoba Chuo also frowned at this moment.

Giving up everything now and escaping with people is a very difficult decision.

He looked at everyone and said, "Everyone, what the Lu official said is correct. If we stay here, we will only become captives of the Wei people. Our tribe is getting smaller and smaller, and the horses will eventually collapse from the continuous charge."

"I have an idea. Goguryeo gave up a large area of territory and retreated voluntarily. Perhaps we can go there and occupy their territory. Goguryeo's army is vulnerable in front of us. If we can defeat them and then recapture the surrounding territory and wait for an opportunity, it is better than waiting to die here."

Tuoba Chuo was older, so his words were naturally more convincing.

At this moment, the generals hesitated.

"As long as we are still here, and these elite troops under our command are still here, whether it's land, money, women, or honor, we will be able to take it back sooner or later. With this failure, we will learn from it. Sooner or later, we will fight our way here and into Youzhou!"

"What do you think?"

Tuoba Chuo gripped the hilt of the knife and looked at the people in front of him.

"I will obey your orders, sir!!"

(End of this chapter)