Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 120 Time is running out
  As the Jin army retreated like a tide, cheers from the defenders celebrating victory rang out from the top of Luoyang City, but Zhang Yu frowned.

Zhang Yu was not a fledgling general, so he could naturally feel that the Jin army was not working hard enough.

But Zhang Yu didn't know what medicine Huanxi was selling in his gourd.

As the saying goes, a person's name is like the shadow of a tree.

In the past, it could be said that the opponents Huan Xi faced were figures such as Shi Bao and Zhang Chonghua, which were not enough to truly reflect his level. However, in the battle at Hetao, he was able to defeat Fu Xiong's 30,000 cavalry and conquer Tie Fu. The Xiongnu is enough to make people all over the world look at them.

After all, Fu Xiong was not Shi Bao. He had been fighting with his father for so many years and had already gained a reputation in Guandong.

Since Huan Xi is not a mediocre person, he must have a profound meaning, but Zhang Yu has never been able to understand it, and he is troubled by this.

"The Jin army has retreated!"

On the top of Luoyang City, the defenders pointed outside the city and shouted excitedly.

Zhang Yu came back to his senses and frowned deeper.

Although the Jin army only had a brief taste of it yesterday, they still made trouble outside the city until dusk before returning to camp.

It was still early now, just after noon, so why did the Jin army retreat?

Fortunately, time will eventually give him the answer, because Deng Xia has brought back 20,000 households.

Deng Xia was worried about Huan Xi's safety, but he also knew that those old and young couldn't walk fast.

When Liu Bei withdrew from Xinye and took the people of Xinye with him, he would not march more than twenty miles a day. In the end, Cao Cao caught up with his cavalry at a speed of three hundred miles in a day and night.

Chenggao and Luoyang are more than a hundred miles apart. If Liu Bei moved at the speed of the new people, Deng Xia might not be able to reach Luoyang in six days.

There was really no other way, so Deng Xia had no choice but to follow Quan Yi's suggestion and ordered the cavalry to give up their horses.

Quan Yi did not stay with Huan Xi. After all, the most important task of this trip was to relocate the people. Huan Xi sent Quan Yi to follow Deng Xia to attack various counties, forcibly relocate the people, and advised Deng Xia along the way.

The cavalry under Huan Xi's command consisted of one person and three horses, totaling 15,000 horses. Deng Xia asked the young and old to sit on horseback and rely on this method to barely increase the speed to thirty or forty miles per day.

It took three days to finally get back over a distance of more than a hundred miles.

At this time, Huan Xi learned the news and led his army back to the Jin army camp.

It was clear that the battle outside Luoyang City just now was unfavorable, and they abandoned a large number of siege equipment and retreated in a hurry, but almost everyone under Huan Xi's command looked happy.

Huan Xi looked at Deng Xia and Quan Yi who looked tired and said happily:
  "Ying Yuan! Ziliang! Well done! You have lived up to my expectations!"

No wonder Huan Xi was so happy. He used 15,000 war horses to summon 30,000 households from Huan Wen.

Now Huan Xi just used a small plan to scare Zhang Yu and plundered more than 30,000 households from Guandong. How could he not feel happy?

Especially Deng Xia's use of Quan Yi's strategy saved him three days. Don't underestimate these three days. Huan Xi is now racing against time. He must rush the people before Fu Jian goes south. To move to Kansai, at least let them leave Henan County.

After all, if Fu Jian catches up with these people when they leave, the two armies fight, the city gate is on fire, and Chi Yu is affected, the people will inevitably suffer heavy casualties.

At the beginning, he was angry because Chu Su was incompetent and caused the death and injury of 200,000 refugees. He could not do such a thing now.

Therefore, the two or three days that Deng Xia and Quan Yi saved for him were really crucial.

If it weren't for the time to drink and celebrate, Huan Xi would have wanted to have three drinks with them.

The two of them were encouraged, and after brushing aside their previous fatigue, Deng Xia asked enthusiastically:
  "My lord, now that your troops are in full order, do you know when to go to the city to lure the enemy?"

Huan Xi laughed and said:
  "Come on, when the people have gone far away, I can free my hands and focus on teaching my disobedient stepson. You have a good rest with the soldiers first. If there is a big war, how can I miss you, Deng Yingyuan, to charge into the battle for me? I have my own uses!"

Deng Xia was overjoyed when he heard this and resigned to Huan Xi.

Previously, Shen Jin sent a fast horse to report to Huan Xi that Fu Jian had led a large army southward.

Huan Xi estimated the time and knew that even if he captured Luoyang City, he would not have time to move the people in the city.

The reason why he planned to send away the people moved by Deng Xia and then go to the city to lure the enemy was that he hoped to beat Zhang Yu so hard with a stick that he would not dare to pursue.

Or you can tell the other party clearly that you have an ambush to see if he dares to chase you.

The 20,000 households brought by Deng Xia were taken away by state and county soldiers who came to support them and continued on their journey westward.

Naturally, the troops and horses were left behind. In order to pick up these people, Wang Meng almost mobilized all the ox carts in Guanzhong.

After all, if they were really allowed to walk on their own feet, they wouldn't be able to return to Kansai without more than a month.

By then, even if Fu Jian was marching at a turtle's speed, he would probably be able to catch up.

Fortunately, Huan Xi had brought back nearly 20,000 cattle from the Xitao Grassland. The government recruited soldiers, so there was no shortage of livestock.

Since he planned to go eastward and plunder the population, he has been building vehicles in preparation for this battle.

Huan Xi also felt relieved when he saw the old and weak women and children getting on the bullock carts and being escorted westward by state and county soldiers.

Back at the handsome tent, Han Yan was already waiting in the tent. When she saw Huan Xi, she happily greeted him:
  "Just now I heard the noise in the camp and knew that the general must have returned."

With that said, she picked up the tea she had made in advance and handed it to Huan Xi.

After taking it, Huan Xi was not in a hurry to drink it and said:
  "There may be a big battle tomorrow, so I'll leave in a carriage early this morning."

Huan Xi didn't know whether Zhang Yu would pursue him, but it was always good to be prepared.

Han Yan also knew that she couldn't help if she stayed here, she could only add chaos.

"General, don't take any chances."

Although she and Zhang Yu have a mother-child relationship, they are not biological mothers and children after all. Since being brought in by Huan Xi, Han Yan's body and mind have long belonged to him. She only hopes that she and Huan Xi can return to Chang'an as soon as possible, so there is no need to go back to Chang'an every day. On tenterhooks.

In Bingzhou, Hedong, in the southern part of Shangdang County, Fu Jian kept urging the soldiers to hurry up. Previously, he had boasted to Zhang Yu's envoy that he would lead an army of 100,000 to the south.

Of course, King Dayu could command an army of 100,000, but he had to leave some soldiers to guard the northern part of Bingzhou and Taihang Baxing. They could not go out in full force.

Huan Xi was worried about Fu Jian's strategy of besieging Wei and rescuing Zhao, so he sent Deng Qiang to lead an army of 7,000 troops to respond to Shen Jin, but he obviously underestimated Fu Jian's hatred for him.

After Fu Jian gathered 60,000 cavalry, he couldn't wait to go south.

Yu's army marched sixty miles a day, and the straight-line distance between Luoyang and Jinyang was more than 800 miles. If the twists and turns on the way were included, the actual distance was nearly 900 miles. In other words, Fu Jiang was just marching. It would take a full fifteen days.

It also took a lot of time for him to recruit soldiers in Jinyang and Zhang Yu's envoy to go north to report the news.

It's not that Fu Jian only wants to walk sixty miles a day, but that he really can't go any faster.

"Han Shu·Chen Tang Zhuan" records: light travel fifty miles, heavy travel thirty miles.

That is to say, if you travel lightly, you can walk fifty miles a day, but if you wear armor, you can only walk thirty miles a day.

The "Wu Jing Zong Yao" also mentions that the marching speed is as fast as sixty miles and as slow as thirty miles. If Fu Jian really wanted to be desperate, he could do it, but by the time he arrived in Luoyang, he would definitely be outnumbered. Facing Huan Xi, Fu Jian did not dare to take it lightly.

This time going south, Fu Jian's army was not without cavalry, but this cavalry was a bit special. It was not the elite cavalry of the Di tribe that suffered heavy losses in Langshan, but was originally sent by Shi Zun to Wang Lang to rescue Shi Bao. By the way, The troops that took Shi Bao back to Kanto.

After Wang Lang learned that Tongguan had been captured by Huan Xi, his squadron returned to Yecheng, and was sent by Shi Zun to attack Puban with Ma Qiu. In the end, Ma Qiu attacked Wang Lang and took control of the cavalry.

Afterwards, Ma Qiu was defeated by the Fu clan and led the cavalry to surrender to the Fu clan.

Fu Hong was poisoned by Ma Qiu, and Fu Jian killed Ma Qiu to avenge his father. From then on, the cavalry belonged to the Fu family.

The original 20,000 fine cavalry of Hou Zhao naturally had walking horses and had the ability to maneuver.

But after being annexed by the Fu clan, the walking horses would definitely be given to the Fu clan's Di cavalry.

Huan Xi captured most of the Di cavalry in the Hetao Plain. Therefore, the cavalry brought by Fu Jian were basically single horses. He simply could not abandon the infantry and rush to the battlefield with the cavalry first. .

Centralizing the use of troops and horses was not an option. After all, the Jin army's lances and cavalry under Huan Xi were extremely powerful in combat and could cooperate with the Huns' cavalry. Fu Jian had to rely on quantity to win.

The next day, before dawn, the Jin camp was lighting fires at the third watch and cooking at the fifth watch. While the soldiers were having breakfast, Huan Xi had already sent Han Yan out of the camp.

Han Yan got on the carriage and said emotionally:

"I hope the general is safe and I am waiting for good news."

Huan Xi comforted him and said:
  "Don't worry, I will be able to catch up with you after I repel the pursuers."

After the two parted ways, dozens of horsemen escorted the carriage and left.

When Huan Xi returned to the camp, all the soldiers had eaten and drank enough. Huan Xi and everyone laughed and said:
  "Everyone, Zhang Yu mistakenly mistook the grass and trees for our soldiers. He was so frightened that he hid in the city and did not dare to come out. He allowed us to move so many people away.

"Today, I want you to cooperate with me and see if we can get those gutless rats out of Luoyang!"

Since Huan Xi had previously encouraged the Xiongnu archers to learn Chinese, even if Huan Xi issued orders in Chinese, there was no language barrier between him and the Xiongnu archers.

But he was still worried that some people wouldn't understand what he said, so after everyone laughed, he repeated it in Hun language.

"Follow the general to the death!"

"Follow the orders of the Great Chanyu!"

All the Jin and Hungarian soldiers shouted loudly.

Of course, the people in the back row couldn't hear clearly what Huan Xi said, but that didn't stop them from echoing loudly.

Seeing that his morale was working, Huan Xi couldn't help but nodded with satisfaction.

When the Jin army appeared outside Luoyang City, Zhang Yu clearly felt the difference from the past.

The infantry phalanx that was responsible for siegeing the city in the past did not appear. Instead, the cavalry, which had been holding down the formation in the distance, came closer to the city, and they were not seen carrying siege equipment.

However, when Huan Xi's cavalry got closer and closer, they could truly see what the so-called tens of thousands of fine cavalry looked like.

At the top of Luoyang City, the defenders were all in an uproar, and even Zhang Yu had a livid face.

Since today's grass and trees did not cover the military uniforms, and the distance was so close, Zhang Yu could see clearly. It turned out that these were the tens of thousands of Jin army cavalry that he feared. They were just a large number of grass and trees fixed on the horse's back, covering the military uniforms to show off. That’s all.

At this moment, Zhang Yu finally realized that Huan Xi's purpose of going east was never Luoyang City.

The so-called political chips are far less important than population in Huan Xi's eyes.

His goal was always to plunder the population around Luoyang.

Zhang Yu felt like he was about to be blown away. Being fooled like this by the person he hated the most in his life, he gritted his teeth.

If the Jin army had not come close to the shooting range of the archers in the city at this time, Zhang Yu would have wanted to rain down arrows on Huan Xilai first.

The cavalry formation outside the city has stopped, and the grass and trees have been untied and discarded by the cavalry. Under the watchful eyes of the defenders in the city, the Jin army set up a large pot outside the city, poured corn into the pot, and made a fire. The posture of cooking.

Just when the defenders were puzzled, the elite cavalry of the Jin army and the Xiongnu cavalry outside the city shouted in unison:

"Gong Huan embraced his eldest son Aman, and his stepson Huan Yu offered 30,000 households as a congratulatory gift. Duke Huan deeply felt that Huan Yu's filial piety was commendable, so he went east to receive his people.

"Today, class teacher, thinking that Huan Yu is guarding Luoyang and has no time to attend the prince's 100-day banquet, I will give you a pot of rice for Huan Yu to enjoy!"

Repeated three times, the sound shook the sky. Zhang Yu felt his blood surge and he almost fainted to the ground.

"Lord!"

On the city tower, his close followers and generals all exclaimed. Fortunately, Yang Ai had quick eyesight and quick hands, and helped Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu stood firm, pushed Yang Ai away, suppressed his anger and said:
  "The traitor Huan wants to escape! Pass my command to the general! Gather the best of the army and follow me out of the city to pursue him!"

Yang Ai quickly dissuaded him and said:
  "Lord! You must not do it! This is obviously a treacherous plot by the Jin people. It is just to lure the lord out of the city. If he goes out to fight rashly, he will definitely be in trouble!"

The other generals also gave advice. They were naturally able to analyze the matter rationally. After all, they were not the ones being humiliated by more than 10,000 people in public.

Zhang Yu could no longer suppress the resentment in his heart, and he roared:
  “How can you remain indifferent after receiving such a great humiliation!

"Now I sit back and watch Huan Xi retreat without daring to pursue him. If this matter spreads, even if he lives, it will be worse than death!"

After saying that, Zhang Yu drew out his saber and said sternly:

"I have made up my mind. Anyone who dares to remonstrate will die!"

Everyone was frightened and had no choice but to keep silent and ordered them to go and assemble the army.

The Jin army outside the city was still shouting loudly. While Zhang Yu was waiting to attack, his anger had passed and he gradually calmed down.

But he still did not change the order to attack.

Before Huan Xi left, Zhang Yu had expressed in front of outsiders more than once that he wanted to take Huan Xi's head to wash away the shame imposed on him by the other party.

Now Huan Xi went east, but he used grass and trees as soldiers to intimidate him. He did not dare to go out of the city to fight. He watched Huan Xi move 30,000 households from his rule.

Being humiliated in public like this again today can be said to be a combination of old and new hatreds.

Facing the enemy, knowing that the opponent has been bluffing before, but now he doesn't even have the courage to pursue.

This makes the soldiers under his command think of themselves, and how the people of the world think of themselves.

As Zhang Yu himself said, although he is alive, it is worse than death!

　I'm still working hard to adjust my condition, but my cold is indeed much better. Thank you for your concern.

　　Chapter 1 tomorrow at 1pm.

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)