I have lived forever since the end of Qin Dynasty

Chapter 431 Siege and Killing
The Huns marched straight in and soon reached the outskirts of Mayi County.

However, they did not attack the city. Instead, according to Nie Yi, they began to search for pastures in the countryside.

After all, herding is different from farming.

As long as the cultivated land is close to water sources and fertile, even if it is a little broken, it will not be a problem for farmers to cultivate it.

But the pasture cannot be one patch here and one patch there.

Otherwise, cattle and sheep will not be able to eat in one place for a long time. Constantly moving around within a day will be torture for both the livestock and the shepherds.

There aren't many places like this near the county seat.

……

In a certain valley, wild grass grows over people's waists, and large bushes are connected to each other.

The breeze blew gently, and the undulating sheep at the bottom of the valley were like clouds.

"General Guan, the Huns have arrived outside Mayi County, less than thirty miles away from our army." The messenger lowered his body and carefully reported the current situation.

At this moment, there are more than 30,000 infantry ambushed in the surrounding mountains, waiting for the enemy's arrival.

If they were on the plains, they would be easily kited by the Huns using mounted shooting tactics, and they would suffer heavy losses in the process.

But with the terrain advantage, it's completely different.

As long as the main force of the Huns enters the valley, they will drop rolling stones and trees, block the way in, and trap the opponent's cavalry.

If those Hun cavalry want to activate, they need sufficient distance.

There happened to be herds of cattle and sheep in the valley, and what was most lacking was the distance for the Hun cavalry to charge.

What's more, using high to defeat low, the Huns' armor is not good enough. If they are forced to brave the rain of arrows shot by the Han army and charge from the bottom of the valley towards the mountains, they may not be able to get close and they will become hedgehogs long ago.

Guan Fu narrowed his eyes and said, "Stay still and send someone to inform General Li's department to make them ready. When we surround the Huns in this valley, they should deal with the Hun cubs outside."

According to intelligence, this time the Xiongnu went south, including five large tribes, more than ten medium-sized tribes, and countless small tribes, with a combined number of more than 200,000.

Of course, not all of these people gathered together and arrived in Mayi, but at least there were hundreds of thousands of them.

The Huns entered the valley here to plunder, with up to 30,000 to 50,000 people coming in. Those who did not enter the trap needed peripheral cavalry to sweep them away.

……

"General Li, the Huns have arrived in Mayi, less than thirty miles away from our army's ambush point."

After hearing the report from the messenger, Li Guang took a deep breath and sweat broke out on his palms.

This is the first time that he has taken charge of an army with more than 100,000 troops.

But this is also related to the fact that the Han Dynasty has not had a large-scale war for a long time.

The last war involving more than 100,000 people was when the late emperor put down the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms. At that time, he was only a heroic cavalry captain and was not qualified to lead an army alone.

After gaining military exploits and qualifications, he no longer had the opportunity to lead an army.

until today.

As the general with the most experience fighting the Huns at the border, Li Guang became the top commander in charge of the siege of Mayi. Guan Fu, who was responsible for the ambush mission, even lowered his head by half, but he had independent command authority and did not need to be dispatched by him.

"Order the entire army to mount their horses and be ready to attack at any time." Li Guang exhaled, his eyes firm.

……

"Chanyu, I found it, I found the pasture of the Han people." A Hun cavalryman got off his horse excitedly, walked quickly to the Chanyu, licked his lips and said, "There are so many cattle and sheep on the mountain and on the road. Count them all." There are too many to count, there are too many, at least... there must be five or six thousand." The Hun kings around them suddenly looked greedy.

On average, each of their tribes only has 10,000 to 20,000 cattle and sheep. Currently, 5,000 to 6,000 "ownerless" cattle and sheep are still being plundered.

How could this make them unmoved?
"Chanyu, I can feel the roar of the long bow in my hand. Please give the order quickly and let the warriors wave their swords against the cowardly Han people."

"What King Youxian said is very true. When we get to the Han people's pastures, we will each rely on our own abilities. As for the cattle and sheep, whoever gets them first will be his."

"Hahahaha, our warriors will definitely get the fattest lambs and bring them back to the grassland."

The military minister Shan Yu was much calmer. He looked at the Huns cavalry and asked in a deep voice: "Can you see clearly? Are there any traces of Han troops around?"

The Hun cavalry thought for a while and said, "Back to Shanyu, there are two Han sentry booths near that pasture, and there are several Han cavalry patrolling them. Our army can kill them in an instant when we pass by."

"Only this few Han troops are stationed?" Shan Yu, the military minister, frowned slightly, feeling that something was wrong.

Nie Yi, who came over at some unknown time, answered: "Thank you, Chanyu, the Han people's concept is different from that of Daxia. We value cultivated land far more than grassland. Therefore, there are only a few soldiers left behind in the grassland here. What a strange thing."

"Is that so?" Shanyu, the military minister, suddenly understood and dispelled his doubts. He turned to the Hun cavalry and said, "After reporting the position, our army will immediately send troops to go. When they arrive at the place, all ministries will act in accordance with the instructions. If there is any random robbery, Those who plunder cattle and sheep shall be killed.”

Hearing this, the two Huns princes next to them curled their lips invisibly.

They know their way around robbery.

What you grab is your own.

If you want someone to spit out what they have eaten, you have to use a sword to coerce them, which is a lot of trouble.

Rather than expecting a fair share of the spoils, it is better to pocket it from the start.

……

I learned the location of the pasture and heard that the Han people were penning thousands of cattle and sheep there.

The Xiongnu army is like ants smelling of honey.

The scattered army had no organized formation and was spread out. The entire team was several miles long.

As for the order required by the military minister Chanyu's order, it is not said to be completely useless, but in the face of practical personal interests, everyone selectively ignores it.

This is just a rush to fight for it. If we really get there, it will probably be even more chaotic.

Seeing this scene, the military minister Shanyu sighed silently.

There are many warriors on the grassland who can shoot tigers and leopards and capture jackals, but their bravery is often difficult to show in wars against the Han Dynasty.

This is because they are more disciplined when hunting wild animals, but when facing the Han people, they appear disorderly.

But being free and unrestrained is the habit of prairie people, and it is difficult to change in a short time.

Even if he is a Chanyu, he can only forcefully restrain the subordinates of his own tribe. For other tribes, he cannot directly use strong orders to make them implement their plans.

While he was thinking, he saw a flock of birds passing by in the sky. They seemed to want to descend into the valley in front of them, but were frightened and flew into the distance.

The military minister Shan Yu was stunned.

He suddenly realized something.

All kinds of things that were wrong that were originally ignored suddenly came to mind.

(End of this chapter)