Three Kingdoms

  Chapter 1004 Soldiers and horses in the rain

  The heavy rain hits, and it seems that the amount of water owed these days will be replenished at once.

  Zhang Ji stood in the rain, and the rain had already soaked his cloak, which was tightly attached to the armor. More than a dozen personal guards stood beside him, all with solemn expressions, without saying a word.

   Zhang Xiu did the same, letting the wind and rain pour on his face, he remained motionless.

In the past two days, while keeping an eye on the movements of the Huns in the west, they also had to prevent the Xianbei from the north from heading south regardless. Seeing the hateful barbarians in front of them, they couldn't immediately draw their swords and rush to kill them. Each of these **** men felt like they were on fire.

  Seeing Zhang Ji standing upright in the rain for a long time, Zhang Xiu couldn't help but said: "Uncle, since Captain Ma is still missing, why don't we go to the side of the rain shed to rest first?"

  Zhang Ji didn't look back, and said, "If you want to go, go."

  Zhang Xiu quickly said: "There is no uncle who is out in the rain, but my nephew is taking shelter from the rain. If my uncle doesn't want to go, my nephew will just accompany my uncle."

Only then did Zhang Ji look back at Zhang Xiu, and then slowly said: "You are the only one who is smart and knows how to hide from the rain? Then we hide together in the rain shed? It is the most important task of the march to let the soldiers hide from the rain, otherwise the food and grass will be destroyed." Let’s not talk about getting wet, but if the bowstring of the iron armor is wet, it will be inconvenient to use...But as a general, how can you be afraid of wind and rain? Besides, we are hiding from the rain in the shed, what do you think when Captain Ma and the others come?”

  If you don’t accompany you through the wind and rain, how can anyone be willing to accompany you to face swords and guns?

  Although Zhang Ji is a rough man who has not read poetry for a few days, his principles of life are not much worse than those who care about others all day long.

  While he was talking, suddenly a legendary cavalry jumped out of the rain and fog in front of him, half standing up in the rain and shouting: "Captain Ma is here!"

  Behind this legendary cavalry, another one also pulled his neck and shouted loudly: "Lieutenant, Captain Ma led the army for fifteen miles, and we will arrive in no time!"

   "Okay!" Zhang Ji yelled loudly, "Get out of the **** place! Is the hot soup boiled? Wait for the captain to get off the horse and bring it over!"

   Not long after, in the rain, a group of cavalry from the Han army appeared, led by Ma Yue.

   Seeing the comrades-in-arms coming, the soldiers who were originally in the canopy greeted repeatedly, and pulled the new Ma Yue team to shelter from the rain together. People are secondary. First loosen the rain-soaked leather girth for the horse, and then sweep away the yellow mud that has stuck to the corners of the eyes and mouth of the horse due to galloping...

  Looking at the rain, they may not be able to leave for a while. If they really set up camp, they have to wash the horses quickly and wipe them with a dry cloth until the horses are dry without leaving any moisture.

  The most precious part of the cavalry is the horse. Horses come first, and only by taking good care of the horses can one be a good cavalryman.

Ma Yue had already dismounted to meet Zhang Ji. The two held hands, laughed, and patted each other's arms, ignoring the splashes of the armor on their bodies. Sitting on the bearded stool set up by the guard, he wiped his eyebrows and beard indiscriminately with the dry cloth handed over by the guard.

   "How is it over there?" Zhang Ji asked while gesturing for the soldiers to get the hot soup.

   "I didn't catch up." Although it was expected, Ma Yue was still a little depressed, and said with his lips curled up, "These thieves are hiding very quickly..."

Speaking of this, Ma Yue was indeed a little upset. If Jia Xu hadn't made a clear statement before leaving, saying that he would have to return within three days no matter if he found it or not, Ma Yue really wanted to teach these thieves a lesson along the trail. .

   "It's okay," Zhang Ji comforted, "Since these **** thieves are planning to come here, they definitely won't come just once. When they come next time, they will be caught and beaten to death!"

"Ok!"

   Ma Yue responded with a muffled sound, then gritted his teeth and wrung out the water-soaked cloth, as if this piece of cloth was the group of black bandits.

  Hearing the sound of the rain hitting the tarpaulin on the canopy, Zhang Ji suddenly said: "Today is the third day... I don't know what's going on with Captain Xu of Yinshan Mountain..."

  Ma Yue stopped his hands, and then said: "Although Captain Xu is leading infantry, I don't know it very well, but he looks like a brave man, it's just raining..."

   "Yeah, this rain..."

  Although the rain is fair, both the attacker and the defender will have a certain impact, but for the unfinished Yinshan Fortress, the impact should be greater.

  Although it is said that the Hu people lost most of their long-range force due to the heavy rain, if the unfinished earth walls in the Yinshan camp were soaked by rain, if they collapsed, the problem would be quite troublesome.

  Ma Yue and Zhang Ji couldn't help but look up at the sky. Seeing the heavy rain in front of them, it seemed to cover the whole world, what should we do?

  Do you want to return to aid now, or continue to follow the plan and arrangements of Master Jia Xu and Jia?

  ………………

  In the original territory of the Han Dynasty, in the mountains of Wuyuan County, among the winding and rugged mountains, a group of people and horses are walking along the mountain roads.

  It has already entered summer in the south of Yinshan Mountain, but here, it still looks like it is still winter. It is full of wind and frost. Even the rolling stones on the mountain are covered with frost.

   This area is not a suitable route for marching. The reason is very simple, because there is a long stretch of road without water.

Nature is so eccentric. On the inner side of Yinshan Mountain, the big swamp that has not yet fully formed Wuliangsuhai is full of water, while on the other side across a mountain ridge, it is so dry that it seems that a lump of soil will pop out. Mars.

   But now is an exception. It seems that nature has been generous once again, pouring rain on this almost dry land.

  The mountain wind howled and collided on the broken rocky cliffs like knives. Although the rain temporarily avoided the danger of water cut-off, it also brought difficulties to travel.

  The yellow mud is poured with water, and then stepped on by people and horses. It is simply a huge muddy pond. It is easy to step on it, but difficult to pull it up. On such a difficult road, this group of people did not show any intention of stopping in fear of difficulties, but just walked towards the southwest in silence.

   This team of people meandered on the mountain road, and dragged out a long one. According to the number of cavalry on horseback, there are only three or four thousand people, but the number of mules and horses following the army seems to be three to four thousand, as if they are riding two horses.

The mules and horses of the brigade were all loaded with weapons and armor, dried meat, milk and wine, tent felt cloth and other items on both sides of the horse's back. The weight of these pack animals lowered their heads, and in the rain and fog, they spit out long white pouts. Gas, step by step forward with difficulty.

The Xianbei slaves wrapped in several layers of rags, rolled up and down like mud monkeys, mixed among the mules and horses, followed on foot with one deep foot and one shallow foot, and there were almost a thousand people. These Xianbei slaves Running back and forth, they tried their best to drive the exhausted mules and horses. From time to time, the sound of shouting and shouting came out, mixed with the sound of wind and rain and the sound of horseshoes, echoing on the mountain road.

  Being bored in the Yanmen area of ​​Wuyuan for a long time, these soldiers of the Xianbei royal court can only run horses and wrestle on the grassland every day. For these people who are naturally inclined to invade, it is really a bit boring.

Now suddenly a Han Chinese general Zhonglang appeared here in Bingbei, together with Yu Fuluo, the former defeated Southern Huns, and then even defeated Xianbei in that part of Yinshan Mountain, and he was at the middle crossing of Yinshan Mountain How can these Xianbei people accept that the fortress was built with the appearance of including Yinshan Mountain under it?

The road crossing in the middle of the Yin Mountain is not only a short distance, but more importantly, it is convenient to supply. It takes only one day to run from the meadow in the north to the land with abundant water and grass in the south. It's pretty good to be able to finish the walk, let's not talk about the difficulty of the road, just to carry the water for the men and horses back and forth, how much less loot will the large army have to bring?

Therefore, it is very important for the Xianbei people and other nomadic peoples in Mobei to keep the passageway going southward from Yinshan Mountain smoothly. Means who has the initiative...

   It is natural to fight Yinshan. When Budugen, the king of Xianbei, made the decision to go south to attack the Han people, the leaders of these Xianbei leaders were all elated. They have never felt afraid of war, they just feel that they can loot again.

It's not that no one objected, but it was mainly for the season. Therefore, when the Xianbei King Bu Dugen said that this time the battle was mainly a short-term surprise attack and would not be protracted, these voices of opposition naturally disappeared. .

The Xianbei people are still very proud at this time. The reputation of sandalwood locust trees on the prairie has not completely dissipated, and the bravery of the Xianbei warriors is still circulating among the herdsmen on the prairie. What will happen if they lose? For the amount of words in their heads, there is no such thing as "what if".

   Xianbei people are brave, but it doesn't mean that Xianbei people don't use their brains at all.

  Yin Mountain camp, although not fully completed, but the military fortress-level fortress built on the mountain is not as easy to capture as the so-called Wubao of the Han people.

  A military fortress means that everything is built with the cruelest status quo as a template, and from a certain point of view, a small military fortress is even more difficult to capture than a large city.

Military forts are often built in dangerous areas, which are easy to defend and difficult to attack. For the convenience of life, big cities often cannot choose areas with extremely dangerous terrain. Although big cities have a large population and a lot of soldiers, but relatively speaking There are more areas that need to be defended, and a slightly weaker force will expose the flaws in the city defense.

Generally speaking, there are some affiliated villages and markets around big cities. When these village markets are attacked, one will become the source of supplies for the enemy, and the other will also collect more wood for the enemy. Or something else to create a siege tool, no matter how bad it is, you can forcibly plunder the surrounding population...

In addition, there is another invisible factor, that is, when a big city is defending, although there will be more reserves, the consumption is also astonishing. Once there is a problem in the city, the consequences will be quite serious. On the contrary, military fortresses Fortresses with extremely high strength, as long as there are two or three thousand defenders, often twenty or thirty thousand people may not be able to attack them in a short time.

  Historically, in such a small city with the nature of a military fortress, the defenders relied on defense sometimes not for a month or two, nor for a year or two, or even for more than ten years, and the enemy was not able to finally attack it.

Although the camp at Yinshan Mountain has not been completely repaired, it does not mean that it can be easily crushed from the front. Moreover, attacking such a fortress can only be filled with life, and it may not be possible to take it down after filling it up. Not very cost-effective.

Therefore, the Xianbei people headed by Budugen, the king of Xianbei, formed a unified opinion. If the fortress of Yinshan can be destroyed, it will be destroyed. The resource is to let Xianbei's soldiers Jiaerlang relax their muscles and bones!

  Of course, if the Han people are incompetent and unable to resist, then depending on the situation, they can go directly to Pingyang and search for it!

  The colorful world of the farming people has always been the favorite of the nomadic people.

Budugen, the king of Xianbei, selected three thousand strong Xianbei cavalry, supplemented by more than a thousand slaves who took care of and served the army, and added three or four thousand auxiliary replacements such as mules, horses and war horses. It is not impossible to piece together more Xianbei Cavalry, just one thing is that at this time, some people really need to stay in the tribe to look after the livestock. On the other hand, the road around the Yinshan Mountain is not easy to walk. If there are too many people and horses, they will not be able to supply supplies along the way.

   But even so, this road is still difficult to walk. Although it is said that the rain has relieved some of the difficulties of lack of water sources, the muddy road surface has added to the trouble of traveling...

  The strong wind swept across the mountains, and it seemed to continuously push the dark clouds from the sky.

  Amidst the dark clouds rolling, there was a faint thunderclap suddenly, and then a thunderbolt flashed among them.

  Among the lightning, the figures of dozens of sturdy Xianbei cavalry flickered. The leader was a strong man with big arms and a round waist, almost half the width of others. The horse under his crotch was breathing heavily, and he pushed his legs forward desperately in the mud.

Even in the wind and rain, this strong man is still only wearing a thin leather robe. On the half of his bare chest, there are blood-colored centipede-like scars all over the place, and the muscles under the bronze-colored skin are clearly visible, as if there is nothing on his body. A little bit of fat is all muscle...

The strong man raised his head and opened his big mouth like a basin of blood, and it took a long time to swallow the rainwater falling from the sky. I don't know if he thought of something, but the strong man suddenly laughed out loud. , stuck out his tongue and licked it, like a hungry ghost seeing delicious food, full of greed.

   There is also the smell of blood that cannot be washed away by rain...

  (end of this chapter)