Domination of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 633
The farther west you go, the farther Gongsun Xu is from the Black Forest. Now he has entered the grassland area that he cannot control. This was the base area of ​​the Xiongnu Shanyu. , and then stay on this grassland.

In other words, Gongsun Xu has now entered the Hu and Qiang mixed grassland area, and if he goes further, he will definitely enter the Hu and Qiang mixed grassland. In the next step, he will probably encounter some nomadic tribes, and maybe he will be with him soon. The Huns encountered.

"Come on, let me find out where the forward troops are." Gongsun Xu rode on his horse and looked at the surrounding terrain. The snow on the grassland had melted a lot, and finally he could see others in the snow-white world. color up.

Groups of cattle, sheep and horses were grazing on the grassland. From a distance, Gongsun Xu's troops seemed to be a migrating tribe, grazing while migrating.Wherever hundreds of thousands of cattle, sheep and horses passed by, it was a mess.

Under normal circumstances, Gongsun Xu only allowed the soldiers to eat two meals a day. They would have a big meal in the morning before marching, and another meal after camping in the evening. The rest of the day was used for migration. Everything is done on the horse, whether it is food, water or convenience.

Only in this way can the marching speed of the troops be maintained. Otherwise, with so many livestock, how far can they travel in a day?Perhaps, Gongsun Xu raised his army a bit early this time. After all, spring has not yet come, and the snow has not yet melted. If there is not enough grass, it will be difficult for these livestock to grow fat.

But he didn't have too much time to wait. Now, he can only go to the west to join the Li Ru tribe. He doesn't know anything about the situation in northern Xinjiang. Whether the Great Wall has been breached or whether Hetao is still stable , He didn't know how much the soldiers of the Northern Xinjiang Army had lost.

"Report,,,,," a group of cavalry galloped over, startled a group of sheep grazing nearby, and the leader ran to Gongsun Xu, reined in his horse, stopped and saluted: "My lord, the vanguard army, Gongsun Ran, is here. According to the report, they have encountered resistance, it should be a Huns army, not like a tribe."

"Which location is it and how far is it from us?" Gongsun Xu spread out the map and asked, "How many enemy troops are there? Have our troops suffered any losses?"

"Sixty miles ahead, there is no large-scale battle between the two sides, and our army has no losses." The man replied: "However, the enemy army occupies both sides of the canyon, which prevents our army from passing through smoothly. The enemy forces are confronting each other, and General Gongsun Ran has sent people to investigate other routes."

"Canyon?" Gongsun Xu pointed to a narrow strip on the map and said, "They are here, we should still be here, Lao Zhu, within a radius of a hundred miles, is there any other passage through this mountain range?"

Lao Zhu is the leader of the Antelope tribe. He has changed his name and surname now, and he completely obeys Gongsun Xu's orders.If anyone is most familiar with the surrounding terrain, it must be Lao Zhu, who has lived in this land for a long time.

"My lord, if we make a detour, our army will travel more than 200 miles." Lao Zhu replied: "Through the canyon, and another [-] miles forward, we can pass through this mountain range. Now the enemy is occupying Canyon, it seems we have to find a way."

"The detour will take an extra two hundred miles. It's not worth it." Gongsun Xu put away the map and said, "Pass it down, order the left and right troops to move closer to the middle, and protect the left and right wings of the army. I will go meet the Huns now." , if the enemy army is really too difficult to deal with, then there is only a detour."

"My lord, the last general invites you to fight." Lao Zhu immediately cupped his hands and said, "Perhaps there are warriors from my tribe among the Xiongnu army guarding this canyon. Maybe I can be of great use at that time. If we can take down this valley without attacking Valley, that must be the best for our army."

"Alright, Lao Zhu, let's go now." Gongsun Xu nodded and said, "In addition, pass on an order that the army slow down and set up camp on the spot after dark. Without my order, we can't leave the camp tomorrow. Let's go now."

Gongsun Xu led [-] tiger and ben army officers and men to rush to the location of Gongsun Ran's army. This canyon is indeed the only way for them to go forward. If you really want to detour on your own whereabouts, it is equivalent to giving the enemy enough time to prepare. Who can say clearly what will happen after the detour.

Sixty miles would take at least half a day for a large army, but it would only take an hour for elite cavalry.Under the escort of three thousand tigers, Gongsun Xu soon arrived near the mountains.

Along the way, Gongsun Xu was observing the terrain. He was really not familiar with this place. After the remnants of the Huns occupied this grassland, the northern army never arrived here again. The spies of the Northern Xinjiang Army will not be allowed to lurk here.

"The mountain range is not very high, but it stretches too long, which is really not good for our army." Gongsun Xu looked at the canyon and said, "There is only such a canyon near here that is suitable for the army to march, and the enemy is really strangling our army's throat Ah, hum, this army really functions as cavalry."

Looking at the valley ahead, the steep mountain wall, and the vast forest, this is simply a natural danger.

"The number of the enemy army, have you checked it out?" Gongsun Xu asked: "Have you fought against the enemy army, and have they acted abnormally?"

"The number of enemy troops is unknown for the time being, but according to the general's estimate, it will not exceed three thousand." Gongsun Ran cupped his hands and replied: "When the scouts under the general's command were inquiring for news, they accidentally encountered an enemy grazing troop. There were only dozens of people, and shortly after the battle broke out between the two sides, a cavalry force of about 200 people rushed out of the canyon.

There were only 30 scouts under my command, and they withdrew because they saw the situation was unfavorable, so the two sides did not cause any huge losses.However, the scouts under my command discovered one thing, that is, the enemy army seemed to be very concerned about the sheep they grazing. At that time, they had an advantage in numbers, but they refused to pursue our army. Instead, they drove the sheep into the canyon. And never came out again. "

"The enemy army values ​​sheep very much?" Gongsun Xu said to himself, "It means that their food and grass are mostly in short supply. Why are there only two hundred cavalry? Is there not enough numbers, or is it because they don't care about our army's attack at all?" ?

There should be no place suitable for grazing in the canyon. They drove the sheep into the valley. If there is not enough forage, how long can they last?Forget it, let's figure out how many of them there are tonight. "

"Ah Ran, select 200 elite soldiers from the army and ask them to sneak into the forest at night to check." Gongsun Xu ordered: "This canyon is easy to defend and difficult to attack. We must first find out the number of enemy troops and their camps. The location is really not good, the big deal is to attack the enemy at night, we can't make a detour, and now, the last thing we can't afford is time."

"No." Gongsun Ran immediately went down to select the elite after he took the order. It was less than an hour after he arrived here, and now Gongsun Xu said that he couldn't afford the time, that is to say, he had to take down this valley before tomorrow.

"The number of our troops has not been revealed, that is to say, the enemy army does not know the number of our troops now, and they must not know our identity." Gongsun Xu looked back at the nearby terrain and said: "Come on, go back Bring in [-] sheep and [-] cows, and they will graze in the area ten miles in front of the valley. In addition, the follow-up troops are not allowed to move forward for the time being, let's go back first, and I want to see who the enemy troops guarding this canyon are."

When the sky was getting dark, Gongsun Ran personally led people to lurk into the forest. He was originally from the Huben Army, and he was most familiar with this kind of lurking, night attack and other combat methods. Now that he encountered such an emergency, of course he You have to go out in person to get accurate information.

Until midnight, Gongsun Xu was still checking the map in the camp, and Lao Zhu and others were also waiting in the tent.

"Haven't you come back yet?" Gongsun Xu asked suddenly, "It's impossible for the enemy to camp too far away. They should be coming back soon. Come and send someone out to meet them and see if there is any accident."

As soon as Gongsun Xu finished speaking, he heard someone shouting outside the tent: "The general is back."

Soon, Gongsun Ran led a few soldiers in and saluted: "The last general has seen..."

"Okay, get up." Gongsun Xu waved his hand and said, "Have you found any news?"

"The enemy's camp is in an open space five miles inside the canyon." Gongsun Ran stepped forward and pointed to the map and said, "This canyon is narrow on the outside and wide on the inside, which is suitable for a large army to station. Judging from the number of torches and tents, the enemy army But more than 2000 people.

In addition, there are enemy troops guarding the peaks on both sides. I did not go up to investigate. It is estimated that the total number of enemy troops on the peaks on both sides will not exceed 1000.There are only so many enemy troops. The canyon should be their camp, and the mountain is just a temporary camp. If there is no war, there should not be many people on it. "

"Have you found out how much food and grass the enemy army has?" Gongsun Xu asked, "Or, after you approached the enemy camp, did you find any news related to the enemy army's food and grass?"

"Yes." Gongsun Ran nodded and replied: "The enemy's camp is not very guarded, and the vigilance of the patrol sergeants is not high enough. I found their sheep pen and cattle pen, and there are only three or four hundred cattle and sheep in total. , Most of the cattle and sheep are thin and skinny."

"Sure enough, the enemy army is in short supply of food and grass." Gongsun Xu squinted his eyes and said: "We have just experienced the cold winter, and the enemy army is guarding the canyon again. They should not have been replenished with food and grass for two or three months, so they just went through the snow just now. When it was time, I hurried out to graze.

After encountering the scouts of our army, they were only busy driving the sheep and not chasing our army, which proved this point. Huh, it seems that the key to defeating the enemy lies in the food and grass. Lao Zhu, tomorrow you will lead 200 people wearing herdsmen Clothes grazing ten miles away in the canyon.

Ah Ran, tomorrow you will lead 1000 people to ambush five miles to the left of the canyon. If the enemy troops leave the valley, you must immediately lead your troops to cut off the enemy's retreat.Tomorrow we will meet this Hun army. "

(End of this chapter)