Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 479
Every winter, most of the Xiongnu herdsmen will return to the winter camp in Langjuxu Mountain, but not all the tribes will be like this. Therefore, the Chu-Yan coalition forces still encountered sporadic small tribes all the way north. All of these small tribes were brutally bloodbathed, and no one was left behind.

Half a month after going deep into the desert, the coalition forces appeared by a lake.

The lake is not big, with a radius of more than ten miles, but the surrounding water plants are extremely rich. Groups of cattle, sheep, horses, and camels are eating grass leisurely on the grassland. The grassland is green and vast, and clusters of sheep flocks The herds of cows are like white or yellow patterns dotted on them, which are magnificent and suffocating.

However, the scenery I saw next was not beautiful at all.

On the north bank of the lake, there were more than a hundred burnt tents, many of which were still emitting green smoke. This place was supposed to be the settlement of a small tribe of Huns, but at this time, it had already become a Shura blood prison. Under the butcher's knives of Huyan and the five hundred wolf riders, there was no living thing to be found here, no matter whether it was human or animal.

Bi Shu got off his horse and said to Meng Ji and Crown Prince Zang Yan, "Let's camp here tonight."

"Here!" Meng Yan and Zang Yan responded with a bang, and each ordered the messengers to issue the military order to camp on the spot, and then a dozen cavalry cavalry flew away. After the military order was issued, the cavalry officers and soldiers turned over in groups He dismounted and unloaded the tent equipment from the horseback to prepare for camping. The scouts and rangers in charge of security also dispersed around the camp.

The quiet and peaceful lake suddenly became noisy, and the cattle and sheep that were grazing leisurely on the grass were also dragged to the lake for slaughter. In less time, tens of thousands of bonfires rose in the open space by the lake. , The fat sheep that had been washed and stripped head by head were also put on the fire, and the smell of barbecue soon filled the air.

Marching in the desert can be said to be miserable, but today I can finally feast on it.

Bi Shu walked into the burnt Huns camp surrounded by Meng Yu, Zang Yan and hundreds of soldiers.

Wooden barrels, pottery, porcelain and other living utensils were scattered throughout the camp, as well as many broken and overturned ox carts. Judging from the scattered traces on the ground, this small tribe seemed to want to escape before the bad luck came, but unfortunately Yes, Huyan's five hundred wolves came too fast, they didn't have time to run at all.

Meng Xi found two corpses embracing tightly in the blood-soaked grass. A young mother was holding her child. A flying spear pierced through her vest and penetrated directly into the child's chest. Both of them were already angry. For a long time, seeing this extremely tragic scene, Meng Ji couldn't help sighing, the wolf rider would not even let the child go.

Bi Shu also sighed, and said, "It seems that the hatred between the Huyan tribe and the Xiongnu is very deep."

Meng Xi nodded and said: "This general knows a thing or two. It is said that the Huyan tribe was originally one of the largest tribes among the Xiongnu tribes. The tribe multiplied very quickly, and it was precisely because of this that Modu was suspicious."

Bi Shudao: "So, Maodun started the war?"

Meng Xi said: "Yes, Maodun gathered more than a dozen Xiongnu tribes and launched a siege on the Huyan tribe. In a fierce battle by the Gonglu River, tens of thousands of strong men of the Huyan tribe were killed, and all women and children were killed. After snatching away, Huyan led Liao Liao hundreds of cavalry to break out of the encirclement, but Modun still refused to give up, and chased and killed Huyan's remnants all the way to Jiuyuan."

Bi Shudao: "It turns out that there is still this kind of grievance between Huyan and the Xiongnu, so it's no wonder."

Meng Xi said: "General, Huyan's behavior is still a little too much. Did you send someone to issue a military order, of course the men of the Huns must be killed, but can their women and children be spared?"

Bi Shu sighed, and said helplessly: "However, the king once issued an edict. This time, he went deep into the desert. Anyone who meets the Huns, regardless of gender, regardless of age, will be killed and killed without leaving any chickens or dogs behind!"

"What?" Meng Ji said in disbelief, "There is an edict?!"

Bi Shu nodded slightly, and said again: "General Meng, don't think too much, if you don't kill these Hun women, they will give birth to dozens of Hun babies in a few years, at most 20 years later , these Xiongnu baby boys will grow up to be brave Hun cavalrymen, so you have the right to eliminate hidden dangers for future generations."

"That's right." Meng Ji said thoughtfully, "This is called taking precautions before they happen."

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"call out……"

Huyan shot out an arrow, and the heavy spiked arrow instantly drew a faint trajectory in the air, and the Hun who was galloping in front of him fell headfirst, Huyan's arrow directly shot through his entire head, sharp The cluster of arrows shot in from the back of the head and came out from the front door, and the Huns died without making a sound.

Hei Lang got off his horse, pulled out a cymbal from the Huns' quiver, and said, "General, you're a sentinel!"

With a fierce look in his eyes, the black bear waved the mace viciously, and then said with a ferocious face, "So there is a camp nearby? Let's have another vote, hehe."

The black wolf lay down on the ground carefully distinguishing the hoof prints of cattle, sheep and horses on the ground, and said in a deep voice: "This is an old hand, he wants to lead us away from the camp." After finishing speaking, the black wolf pointed to the northeast and said, "This camp I'm afraid it won't be small, it should be in this direction, and the distance will not exceed ten miles!"

Hu Yan said grimly: "How many people will there be in this tribe?"

Hei Lang said decisively: "At least 500 people, and no more than 2000 people."

"Less than 2000 people, at most five hundred strong men!" Huyan's mouth suddenly showed a trace of extremely ferocious murderous intent, and he raised his head to the sky and let out a wolf howl, and suddenly hundreds of horses turned up in the deep wormwood behind him. Horses, on the backs of these hundreds of horses, five hundred wolf riders are already waiting.

Hu Yan raised his right hand again and pressed forward hard, and the five hundred wolf riders rushed forward like a flood that had broken a dike.

The black wolf is indeed the most good at tracking the lone wolf on the grassland. The five hundred wolves rode forward for less than ten miles, and a winding river appeared in front of them. The water and grass on both sides of the river were lush, and clusters of cattle, sheep and horses were scattered. , in the bend of the river not far away, there are scattered tents, at least three to five hundred.

Five hundred wolves suddenly became excited.

Almost at the same time, the Huns also discovered the arrival of these "horse thieves". Amidst the angry shouts one after another, there were constantly Hun men getting out of the tent, picking up their horse forks, and then turning on their horses to meet them here. After a while, at least a hundred horsemen gathered on the river beach, and more Huns gathered here.

Hu Yan slowly drew out the Dumb Moon Sword, an extremely cruel grin appeared on the corner of his mouth, vaguely, the incomparably tragic scene by the Lu Gong River 20 years ago floated before his eyes again.

Today, I can finally avenge my dead clansmen!

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Lu Tai had already rushed to the royal city of the Yuezhi people with [-] elite Han troops.

It is said to be a royal city, but it is actually a small earthen city with a radius of less than ten miles. The Yuezhi people are also nomadic tribes, and they did not have the habit of building cities and settling down. An earthen city was built near Ze, which is now the Yuezhi King City.

From Lu Tai's point of view, the defense capability of this royal city is undoubtedly quite bad. The city wall is made of rammed earth, and the surface is not covered with green bricks. The strength is obviously insufficient, and it is difficult to withstand the impact of the ram; The ten-meter-high city wall is more than enough to resist the invasion of wild animals, but it is obviously insufficient to block the attack of the army.

But this is not the worst. The worst thing is that the Yuezhi people have no concept of repairing the city at all. This royal city has collapsed in several sections less than 20 years after it was built. If it can't be repaired before the arrival of the Huns These gaps, then the city will not be able to play any defensive role at all.

The only good news is that the Yuezhi people are obviously afraid of the Huns to the extreme, so they are very enthusiastic about Lu Tai's arrival. He still showed great enthusiasm for defending the city. In the eyes of the Yuezhi people, the Central Plains people are all the defenders of the city.

Accompanied by King Yuezhi and the four Shehous, Lu Tai inspected the whole city. Finally, Lu Tai said: "King Yuezhi, if you agree to the three conditions of this general, this general can assure you that within six months at least the Yuezhi The King of the City will not fall!" Of course Lu Tai could not speak Yuezhi, but Hu Shang, who was proficient in Central Plains, was in charge of translation.

King Yueshi hurriedly said: "As long as you can defend the royal city, let alone three conditions, thirty conditions will do."

Lu Tai nodded, stretched out three hands and said: "First, from now on, the young men of the Yue clan near the king's city must unconditionally accept the order of this general, and do their best to repair and strengthen the city wall; second, recruit all women and children [-]. Cattle, horses and vehicles transport as much black oil as possible to the city; [-]. Create a large amount of corpse poison to pollute all water sources in Hexi."

"All right, do it, do it all." King Yueshi nodded repeatedly and agreed with all his mouth.

Guishuang Shehou was worried, and asked again: "Dare to ask the general, what if the Huns still refuse to retreat after six months? Will the Great Han Congress launch a large army to attack the Huns?"

"The Xiongnu can't survive for six months." Lu Tai said coldly, "My prime minister has already made arrangements."

Lu Tai didn't think that Bai Mo's arrangement would be effective, let alone whether the scouts of the Han army could find the logistics base where the Huns hid women, children, cattle and sheep in the vast desert. Even if they found it, it would be difficult to get what they wanted. There will definitely be enough troops left to protect women, children, cattle and sheep. How easy is it to intercept their retreat?
But no matter what, Bai Mo is now the prime minister, so what can Lu Tai say?
The only thing Lu Tai can do is to help the Yuezhi people defend the royal city, and nothing else matters to him.

However, after hearing from Lu Tai that Bai Mo had already made arrangements, King Yuezhi and the four Shehous were finally relieved a little. In any case, the Battle of Hexi had the support of Yuezhi from the Han Dynasty, which was better than facing the Yuezhi alone. Much better for the Huns.

(End of this chapter)