People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 121 Must be confiscated!
Qiuliju was unsure whether to force his way through the city or not. He clearly felt the threat of the Yellow Turbans, but he was not willing to take a detour outside the Great Wall.

It was not until the battle damage report was released that Qiu Liju fell completely silent.

In this contact competition, more than 200 Wuhuan cavalrymen were killed, 300 were seriously injured, and even more were slightly injured.

It seems that the number is not very large, but Qiu Liju knows very well that this is because both sides did not fight desperately.

The competition time was very short, and it was almost over after the two armies met each other, so the numbers naturally could not be high.

If they really fought to the death, the number would definitely skyrocket. Although the other side might suffer more casualties than their own in the end, Qiu Liju absolutely could not accept such an exchange.

Our own Wuhuan cavalry are not consumables, and we will feel sad if one is missing.

As the Wuhuan King of Western Liao, Qiuliju ruled over 5,000 Wuhuan households. The 5,000 Wuhuan warriors from these 5,000 households represented the support of the entire pastoral family behind them, which also included the family's cattle, sheep, property and slaves.

The cost of training a Wuhuan knight is high enough, which also means that it cannot withstand consumption. Once there are not enough warriors in one's hands, one may be swallowed up by other Wuhuan forces. There are several Wuhuan kings in Youzhou today.

"Let's take a detour. Our enemy is not the Yellow Turbans."

Although Qiu Liju was very reluctant, he had to make a choice.

I raised an army not to fight the Yellow Turbans to the death, but to reap the fertile land of the Central Plains. Since the cost of borrowing the road is so high, I can only choose to go far away from the border.

To bypass Yuyang and enter the western part of Youzhou would take at least five or six extra days of journey, which made them feel as uncomfortable as if they had eaten a fly.

Zhang Chun sighed, "Since intimidation doesn't work, I'm afraid this is the only way. I just don't know why Xu Guangtou has such an attitude. It's really puzzling."

Qiu Liju said coldly: "We can't take care of him for now. After we have dealt with Gongsun Zan and taken over Youzhou, we can come back and eat him slowly. There is still a long time to come, so there is no need to rush."

Of course, Zhang Chun also knew that the most urgent task at this time was to defeat Gongsun Zan first. Since he could not use all his strength on the Yellow Turbans, taking a detour was the only option.

At this point, Zhang Chun no longer needed to send a message to Xu Chen to surrender. He could just organize the army to march north, which would naturally make his attitude clear.

It took the army half an hour just to set off. During this time, the Yellow Turban army in the distance did not move, just quietly watching Zhang Chun's army move.

It was not until Zhang Chun's army started to set off that the Yellow Turbans ordered their cavalry to take off their heavy armor and follow from a distance in small teams of light cavalry, but they wanted to keep an eye on the enemy all the way until they got away from Yuyang.

Zhang Chun took one last look at the Yellow Turban army, feeling hatred in his heart, and only thought that he must skin and chop Xu Guangtou into pieces if he had the chance.

Ever since this Guangtou Xu came to the Yellow Turbans, it seemed like he was in conflict with my fate and nothing I could do has gone smoothly. Now he stops me even when I want to cross the road. It's really hateful!

After cursing inwardly for a while, Zhang Chun began to worry again: "Guangtou Xu treats us like this, it seems that he doesn't regard us as fellow travelers. Do you think he might stab us in the back at a critical moment?"

Qiu Liju was not worried, but sneered: "I am just one step ahead. Later, the Wuhuan King of Liaodong, Su Puyan, will come with thousands of warriors and 10,000 cavalry. If that Xu Guangtou dares to stab me in the back, I will make sure he never returns!"

Zhang Chun felt relieved after hearing this. Five thousand cavalrymen were already strong enough, and ten thousand cavalrymen could conquer the world.

If it weren't for the need to wipe out the Han court's forces in Youzhou first, Zhang Chunzhen would have wanted to take the Wuhuan people to flatten Yuyang first.

However, he was just thinking about it. For the rebels, the imperial court was always the biggest threat, and Gongsun Zan, as a local general of the imperial court, was now his number one enemy. The longer the time went on, the greater the threat of Gongsun Zan would become. Xu Chen really couldn't take care of him.

The army marched away in a mighty force and soon disappeared from sight.

At the Yellow Turban camp, Xu Chen and Wang Dang both breathed a sigh of relief.

After resting, Tian Shitou also took off his armor and came to Xu Chen, clasped his fists and saluted, saying: "Master, I have accomplished my mission in this battle!"

Xu Chen nodded and smiled: "You fought very well. This is a rare actual combat example with the Wuhuan cavalry. We will hold a seminar to summarize the combat experience after we return. I think we will fight them many times in the future."

Tian Shitou immediately agreed, but Xu Chen added: "After today, Youzhou will no longer be peaceful. We need to send more personnel to various places to gather intelligence and news. In this chaotic situation, we cannot be deaf and blind."

Tian Shitou said, "I understand. We will send more people to ensure that our sect's information is kept flowing."

Xu Chen said: "How many people will be sent and how much money will be needed, you can come up with a plan at that time, and after I give my approval, you can apply for money from the treasury."

Tian Shitou agreed, then stepped aside to Xu Chen and performed his duties as a personal guard.

Although Zhang Chun's army had already left, there was no guarantee that they would come back to attack, so Xu Chen did not dare to relax his vigilance. He only sent back the ordinary people who were there to show their strength, and his own army of more than 10,000 troops stationed on the key roads to prevent any unexpected situations. In a simple competition with the Wuhuan cavalry, more than 300 of his own men were killed, and the number of injured varied.

This made Xu Chen and Wang Dang feel depressed, but fortunately both sides restrained themselves. If they really fought to the death, the elite combat power that the Yellow Turbans had worked so hard to gather would have been severely damaged.

However, this test also gave King Xu Chen a lot of confidence. First, he had a good idea of ​​the combat effectiveness of the Wuhuan cavalry, and second, he had a good idea of ​​the combat effectiveness of the vanguard camp.

The Wuhuan cavalry was not as strong as imagined, but their own heavy cavalry was fully in line with expected combat power.

Although he did not know the exact casualties of the Wuhuan cavalry in this battle, Wang Dang and Xu Chen could guess, based on the combat situation, that the casualties on both sides were not much different.

"What a pity! My sect's territory is still too small. Otherwise, if they could train another 3,000 to 5,000 heavy cavalry for me, I would have eaten them alive, not to mention the mere 5,000 Hu cavalry. Even if they were 10,000 or 20,000 Hu cavalry, I would have eaten them alive!"

After returning to the camp tent, Wang Dang sighed as soon as he sat down. Today's battle was actually not bad, but it was not satisfying.

Because Wang Dang had already seen that it was not because of lack of strength, but simply because of the disadvantage in the number of cavalry, otherwise the situation would not be like this today. He only hated that Yuyang could not produce more cavalry now.

After hearing Wang Dang's words, Xu Chen didn't think he was being arrogant. He didn't need more. As long as he had 5,000 heavy cavalry, it would not be a dream to defeat the entire Wuhuan group.

There has been an example of this. Cao Cao relied on 5,000 Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to conquer the Wuhuan in the north. In one fell swoop, he defeated 10,000 to 20,000 Wuhuan cavalry, killed the Chanyu cleanly and suppressed the entire Wuhuan tribe.

Although this battle involved the top military general Zhang Liao, it at least illustrates the combat advantage of the heavy cavalry over the Hu cavalry.

If one wants to stand out and take root in Youzhou, it is certainly right to develop in the direction of heavy cavalry. However, it is not easy to do this.

"Our sect will definitely expand its cavalry, but the most difficult part is not the armor and equipment, but the war horses." Xu Chen frowned, his tone somewhat helpless.

If it is just an equipment problem, with the coal and iron mining in Yuyang now and the increasing output, it will be able to be fully equipped slowly.

But suitable war horses are hard to come by, and shock cavalry also has extremely high requirements for the quality of war horses. To ensure that the horses do not get frightened and remain stable during a collision, this requires long-term training and the training cost is very high.

Horses are a strategic resource, and selecting and training them is even more difficult. Gathering 5,000 qualified war horses is even more difficult.

Wang Dang also understood this truth. After pondering for a while, he said, "These barbarians are burning, killing and looting, which is extremely unjust. I think the Yellow Turbans should also confiscate their hard-earned gains!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Chen immediately understood. Instead of painstakingly training war horses, it would be more direct to just rob and confiscate the ready-made ones.

As for who has enough qualified war horses, the Wuhuan cavalry have them. If they can find an opportunity to attack them and seize their war horses, the Yellow Turbans will really gain a lot.

Cavalry must be developed. Whether it is dealing with other Wuhuan cavalry or Xianbei Huns in the future, it will be difficult to cope without cavalry.

Even if he were to fight for hegemony over the Central Plains in the future, controlling an elite cavalry would be enough to get ahead of the other lords.

After exchanging a glance with Wang Dang, Xu Chen said, "Zhang Chun Wuhuan will soon fight Gongsun Zan. We must get involved in this matter. If there is a chance, we must try it. You and I must pay attention to this matter."

Wang Dang nodded and asked, "Who should we help then?"

Xu Chen smiled and said, "We won't help anyone but the people. Gongsun Zan, Zhang Chun and the Xianbei are all enemies. The best outcome is that they consume each other. But if Gongsun Zan can't hold on, we need to take action. At least we need to prevent Zhang Chun and Wuhuan from bringing disaster to the Central Plains."

When Wang Dang heard this, he had an idea in his mind. With this general direction, he knew what to do next.

Thinking of this, Wang Dang said: "If they start fighting, it will definitely not be over in a short time. Let's prepare for battle and wait for the situation to develop before deciding what to do!"

Xu Chen and Wang Dang made a strategy and waited quietly in Yuyang. Yuyang returned to its former tranquility, but several counties in the western part of Youzhou could no longer be at peace.

Zhang Chun's Wuhuan army attacked Shanggu and Guangyang counties from outside the Great Wall. For a time, the entire western region was in flames, and counties and counties everywhere raised troops to respond.

At the first moment of the war, Gongsun Zan led the 3,000 White Horse Volunteers he had recalled and more than 20,000 troops recruited from all over the country to meet the enemy.

The armies of both sides will eventually meet in Ji County, Guangyang.

The war is about to break out, and the outcome of this war will determine the future direction of Youzhou.

The Yellow Turbans, who were adjacent to Guangyang County, were also closely following the course of this battle.

(End of this chapter)