Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 160 Not moving
The spring breeze is getting warmer, and the grass and trees on the ground are becoming more lush.

It has been almost twenty days since the expedition began. Spring plowing in Lanling should have started long ago, but the Sishui River basin is a wasteland.

This place is always the first to be hit in every war in the North.

Murong Long and Murong Zhou did not give up. Every day, scouts and rangers would patrol outside the camp.

There were only more than ten war horses and more than twenty donkeys and mules in Liu Daogui's camp, and the scouts could not get out at all. It seemed that the other party had been deliberately blocking the news. His own scouts could not get in, and the scouts from Zoucheng could not get in either.

Liu Daogui was completely in the dark and had no idea what was happening in the east.

But the tighter the blockade, the more it shows that the Yan army is not doing well there.

If Zoucheng was captured, there was no need for Murong Long to go to so much trouble. Leaking the news would only undermine his own morale.

"How can we live like this? Are we really going to be trapped here to death? We might as well rush out and fight them with real swords and real weapons." After Liu Zun recovered from his injury, he couldn't sit still.

Liu Daogui glanced at him sideways, "What are you going to fight with? Don't you see that Murong Long won't even give you a chance to fight head-on?"

Wang Yuande said, "I've done a rough calculation and the food is enough to last for five days."

Liu Daogui frowned, "The war horses and livestock have all been slaughtered. How long can they last?"

Once the war broke out, the food supply was consumed and the livestock were exhausted. The food and grass looted a few days ago were almost eaten up, and there were only more than 30 livestock left.

The key is that they are now being held back by the Yan cavalry and cannot go out to plunder.

Moreover, the counties south of One Lake had suffered severe population loss, and there were simply not many places to plunder.

The Zhu River was filled with floating corpses and no fish or shrimp could be eaten.

Spring is the time when epidemics are most prevalent. A simple headache or fever can kill a person.

Fortunately, there is a lake in the southwest of the camp. The water flows down from the Ji River and then into the Zhu River, so it is not polluted.

Despite this, Liu Daogui ordered that all drinking water must be boiled before drinking.

There are not many trees here, but the banks are covered with shrubs and aquatic plants, which can barely burn after a day of drying.

The thick smoke can both repel insects and confuse the enemy.

Wang Yuande said: "If we maintain the minimum daily consumption, we can still last about half a month."

Liu Daogui glanced at the soldiers around him. Many of them had festering wounds. If they continued to save food, it would only make them weaker. "Then let's slaughter the livestock first, boil them into a meat soup, and let the soldiers have a good meal."

Liu Zun laughed heartily and said, "Hahaha, that's how it should be. Without meat, how can we have the energy to fight?"

Liu Daogui asked, "How many crossbow arrows are left?"

When defeating cavalry with infantry, the most important thing is the crossbow.

Wang Yuande's face turned grim. "It's barely enough for a fight."

"What should I do in the future?" Wang Yuande almost became a grain officer, racking his brains every day and worrying about food and drink.

Liu Daogui looked up at the sky. White clouds blocked the sun. When he was farming, he could tell when it would rain by looking at the sky.

The clouds are so thick now, and there is a hint of moisture in the spring breeze.

If I'm not mistaken, the plum rain season should be coming soon.

This place belongs to the same region as Lanling, has a similar climate, and the rainy season is during these few days.

Farming and fighting have been integrated since ancient times. Farming and fighting actually have many similarities. Farming pays the most attention to weather and terrain.

If it rains, the cavalry will be even more restricted. If they dare to pursue, Liu Daogui will kill them. "Save all your crossbows and arrows. Do not fire a single one without my order. Hold on for another seven days. During these seven days, you must ensure the morale and combat effectiveness of the soldiers are maintained."

"Seven days is more than enough." Wang Yuande seemed to have guessed something and his expression relaxed.

In fact, even if there was no rain, Liu Daogui estimated that the reinforcements from Zou County would arrive soon. His brother Liu Yu would not just watch him die, and the people in the eight villages were also capable of fighting.

By dragging it out like this, Liu Daogui actually tied down two Yan forces in the Sishui River Basin.

We’ll see who can’t hold on any longer then.

The daily consumption of a cavalryman is five times that of an infantryman. War horses are very picky eaters and will not eat all kinds of grass. If you want to maintain your combat effectiveness, you must feed them food.

The more troops there are, the greater the consumption.

If you drink contaminated water, the trouble will be even worse.

Liu Daogui didn't believe that the Yan army's organization and mobilization capabilities could be stronger than the Eight Buildings. The Yan army had a complex composition, with various ethnic groups integrated and their living habits were very different.

The confrontation between two armies not only tests the bravery of the soldiers and the wisdom of the generals, but also tests the logistical supply capabilities and military management capabilities.

During the Battle of Red Cliff in the Three Kingdoms Period, the Wei army was not accustomed to the climate and soil of the south, and a plague broke out, killing many Northern soldiers.

In the Battle of Feishui, Fu Jian led an army of 800,000 strong, hoping to stop the flow of the river with a single whip, but a local defeat led to a complete defeat.

First, make yourself invincible, and then wait for the enemy to be defeated. Your invincibility lies in yourself, and your defeat lies in the enemy.

In short, it depends on who makes the mistake first. Many powerful enemies are not defeated by the enemy, but by their own internal forces.

Whether the Yan army is strong or not is their business. Liu Daogui should first put himself in an invincible position and wait for the opportunity.

When he had some free time, he would comfort the soldiers and tell them a few stories from the Han Dynasty.

"In the eighteenth year of Emperor Ming of Han's Yongping reign, the Northern Xiongnu King Zuoluli led 20,000 cavalrymen to attack the Cheshi Kingdom. Geng Gong retreated to Shule City... The Xiongnu envoy said, 'If General Geng surrenders, the Chanyu will make you the King of Baiwu and marry you to a princess!' Geng Gong pretended to agree, tricked the envoy into entering the city, and then, in front of the Xiongnu army outside, beheaded the envoy and roasted his flesh in public..."

"color!"

"Good man!"

"We still have more than 1,900 of us, and the Suolu only have 6,000 to 7,000. If they dare to come, we will kill them all without leaving a single one alive!"

The soldiers' eyes lit up when they heard this, and they cheered for Geng Gong's integrity.

Not only them, Liu Daogui also secretly cheered for the heroes of the Han Dynasty.

The war between China and the barbarians lasted throughout history, except for the Jin Dynasty under the Sima family, when China was overwhelmed and beaten by the barbarians. China lost the land where its ancestors had lived and multiplied, and the people in the north suffered greatly.

The more one knows about the prosperity of the Han Dynasty, the more one despises the Sima family's actions.

"If our ancestors were so powerful, why did they lose the northern country? And were bullied by the Hu people?" Finally, someone couldn't help but ask.

This shows that Liu Daogui's persistent training and teaching have worked. They are no longer blindly accepting things, but have learned to think proactively.

However, this question is very serious and cannot be explained in a few words.

The migration of the Hu people into Yong, Bing and You began at the end of the Han Dynasty. The great plague at the end of the Han Dynasty lasted until the early years of the Zhongchao Dynasty. The Chinese population declined. The three kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu fought for hegemony, and all of them assimilated other ethnic groups for their own use.

But no matter what, it is inseparable from the incompetence of the Sima family.

Before he could reply, someone started cursing, "Of course the Sima family is useless. They've usurped the throne from the Cao family and now only know how to kill each other. They're more aggressive towards their own people than the other, but when they encounter the Hu people, their bones immediately soften!"

"The noble families are not good people either. They only care about the survival of the people in the north and never care about the lives of the people in the north!"

(End of this chapter)