Chapter 272 Tell the Xiongnu Chanyu, my name is Luo Ling
The Huns mainly invaded Yan and Zhao, so if the army wanted to set out from Chang'an, it would have to cross a considerable distance. However, the troops recruited in Guanzhong were mainly infantry. Han Xin also sent people to Zhao and Yan to dispatch the most elite cavalry of the Han Dynasty.
Before leaving, Liu Bang asked, "General, are you sure you can win this time?"
Han Xin said to Liu Bang very clearly: "Your Majesty, we will definitely win, but it is impossible to defeat the Xiongnu in one battle. The strength of the generals is limited by the national strength.
When fighting against the Huns on the grassland, without cavalry you can only be beaten. Only with cavalry can you have tactics and the possibility of a great victory.
The people who draw the bow come and go like the wind. Unless they go deep into the heart of the Central Plains, they are inherently invincible on the grassland.
If I had tens of thousands of cavalrymen, with three horses or even five horses for each man, and sufficient logistical support, I would certainly be able to lead my troops straight to the grassland and wipe out the Hu people.
but……"
Han Xin didn't say anything else. Everyone knew that this was impossible. It was already difficult to support the current operations, and there was no way there would be enough supplies for Han Xin to go deep into the grassland.
Han Xin led the army all the way north from Zhao State.
Zhao State had a special position in the defense system of the Han Dynasty. Once the Huns invaded, Zhao State had the power to mobilize the forces of Dai State and Yan State to resist the Huns together.
The Huns came much faster than expected. After crossing Huguan, Han Xin encountered a group of Huns directly. The two sides fought fiercely for a while. The Huns suffered heavy casualties. Seeing that the Han army had more people, they rode away.
When Han Xin saw that the Huns had actually entered the Central Plains, although only in Beidi County, it was not a grassland after all. He decisively divided his troops into three groups. In a place like Zhao State with mountains and rivers on the surface, there were only so many marching routes. Han Xin marked several points where the Huns were likely to gather, and asked the generals to arrive on time to participate in the encirclement.
…
"kill!"
The deafening shouts echoed across the three northern counties. The Huns drew their bows and shot, and Han Xin calmly commanded his soldiers to fight back.
Then the Huns' horses suddenly ran slower and slower. They looked around and found that the Han army had formed an encirclement without them noticing.
The Huns realized that something was wrong. In terms of weapons and equipment alone, they were far inferior to the Han people. If they were to fight the Han people in close combat, they would definitely not be their match. So they wanted to keep some distance before attacking.
But how could Han Xin give them this opportunity? The Central Plains just had few cavalrymen, and they were not as numerous as the nomads where one person had three or even five horses. It was not that there was no cavalry at all.
At the beginning, Xiang Yu flexibly used a combination of cavalry and infantry to fight against the Qin army and the princes of the world. Han Xin, as a top figure in the war planning faction, although not a professional cavalry general, had a place for cavalry in many tactics.
"Marquis Wuyang, you will lead 3,000 cavalrymen to attack from the left along the gentle slope and cut off their retreat route."
Fan Kuai had been serving Han Xin for many years, and upon hearing this, he immediately led his cavalry to prepare for a charge.
Han Xin issued orders one after another, and rows of small-scale troops began to shuttle across the battlefield. This was a reflection of Han Xin's strong command ability.
"Get out!"
The Huns really felt something was wrong. These Han troops seemed to be endless. No matter how they charged left and right, the Han troops were everywhere, following them like a shadow.
"sucker Punch."
Han Xin smiled disdainfully and said to his left and right: "Do these Hu people think they are Xiang Yu? If Xiang Yu were here, 150,000 people would not be able to be contained, but these Hu people?"
Xiahou Ying exclaimed: "The general is a master of military tactics. These barbarians can never imagine it. I'm afraid these two or three thousand men will be defeated here."
Han Xin smiled slightly, but his tone was cold: "Your Majesty trusts me so much that you let me lead an army of 250,000, not just for these 20,000 or 30,000 people. This battle must make the Xiongnu feel the pain and make them afraid to go south to herd their horses."
Upon hearing this, all the generals bowed and said, "We are willing to follow the general to pacify the Xiongnu."
Han Xin recalled the contents of the geomancy map, crossed Jinyang, and headed north for hundreds of miles. Before entering the grassland, he found the most suitable place for a battle. He murmured softly, "Only these few terrains are suitable. The others are not worth the effort. We cannot enter the grassland."
…
Luo Ling walked along the river from the grassland. He saw quite a few Huns along the way, but apart from some who were shouting and calling for killing, most of them just avoided him from a distance. Basically, only some old people, women and children were left in those tribes, looking at Luo Ling with envy.
The brave ones even came up and talked to Luo Ling. Luo Ling looked at the child in front of him and was sure that this must be the descendant of the Xia people.
These people were dressed in rags or had no clothes at all, relying on pieces of fur to keep warm. They had the smell of living with livestock for many years, and many of them looked hungry.
Nomadic people are not as imagined to eat meat and drink milk every day. Where can they get so many livestock for them to eat? As long as the taxes in the Central Plains are not too high, the farming people will definitely live a better life than nomadic people.
This is fate. Some people are born as people of the Zhu Xia, while others strive for the identity of the Zhu Xia but cannot get it. The Luo family brought civilization to these people. What a grace this is!
Luo Ling saw many things along the way, and he found that he had imagined the Huns to be too powerful.
The fighting power of the Xiongnu Empire was indeed strong, but their ability to withstand risks was not even close to that of the Han Dynasty.
Their power was really unstable, and internal strife could easily occur, weakening the strength of the entire Hu people.
The most important thing is that farming can store food, but the Huns cannot. Even if the Han Dynasty did not take action against the Huns, as long as it defended the Great Wall, two natural disasters would be enough to hit the Huns half to death.
That's unfortunate.
Other magic weapons of the Luo family may not be very useful, but playing with celestial phenomena is their ancestor, especially the magic weapon of the God of Four Seasons. As long as the family foundation is used desperately, Luo Ling alone can destroy this empire that unified the grassland.
He began to understand the meaning of what his ancestor had said that day. The relationship between Xia and Yi was indeed no longer a life-and-death relationship, because the Luo family had the means to influence the outcome.
The only worry now is that the number of Hu people on the grassland is endless, while the increase in family assets is slow.
Although Luo Ling did not know the specific contents of such a thing as luck points, as Ji Zhao's acting head of the family, he could feel that the family's assets had been continuously decreasing since the destruction of Bang Zhou.
There were several increases after the establishment of the Han Dynasty, but compared with the huge consumption, the family's foundation was indeed much thinner. Now they used their foundation to defeat the Huns, and in a few decades or a hundred years the grasslands would make a comeback.
We can't let the Luo family use their foundation every time. The Luo family will have to rely on their foundation to survive the next three thousand years, five thousand years, or even ten thousand years.
Without the protection of their background, how can the Luo family face the strong imperial power? Without endless geniuses and means to counter the imperial power, relying solely on reputation is of little use. The worry about the future is the reason why the Luo family is cautious in using their background.
"How can we eliminate the threat of the grassland to the Central Plains?"
The carriage was moving slowly. Luo Ling sat in the carriage, frowning and thinking about this question, but he had no answer to this question.
Because this is no longer a problem that can be solved by wisdom, but requires the advancement of productivity. As long as productivity does not improve, nomadic peoples will continue to move south and compete for the living space of farming peoples.
As the sun rose and the moon set, Luo Ling looked at the snow-capped mountains in the distance. He finally gave up looking for the answer, and a cold light flashed in his eyes.
“There is only one way, and that is to always keep the Central Plains strong and defeat the enemies on the grassland time and time again.
Let the grasslands admire the Central Plains, and then absorb the heroes of the grasslands to the Central Plains. Without the leadership of heroes, the grasslands will never rise. "
This was the conclusion Luo Ling finally came to. Looking at the snow-capped mountains in the distance, he murmured, "King Su, your great existence will be known to the entire Xiongnu."
Luo Ling walked westward along the river and gradually began to see the Hun cavalry. Without exception, all those who dared to attack died at Luo Ling's hands.
Maodun led hundreds of thousands of Hun troops to confront Han Xin. Looking at the Huns moving at high speed, a haze flashed in Han Xin's eyes.
This is the biggest advantage of the Huns, especially in such open terrain. This is the battlefield that Han Xin dislikes the most. There are very few tactics that infantry can use against cavalry in the wilderness.
In the war against Maodun's Huns, Han Xin picked up the chariots that had been gradually decreasing since the Warring States Period. After refitting them, they were able to completely block the impact of cavalry and were very suitable for attacks by archers.
Now it played a huge role. The chariots formed a formation and advanced slowly. As soon as the Huns got close, they attacked with sharp bows and crossbows. They wanted to attack but could not break through the chariots' defense line. They also had to defend against the Han cavalry from time to time.
It was so painful that they could only take advantage of their speed and keep shooting arrows. Soldiers of both the Han and Xiongnu armies kept falling, but it was obvious that more Xiongnu soldiers fell because the weapons and equipment of both sides were not at the same level.
Maodun ordered the Huns to retreat continuously. He was an outstanding monarch and commander, not a gambler. If he could not gain any benefit, he would rather retreat directly, so he would not fight to the death with Han Xin.
This stalemate was not completely broken until Han Xin's other two armies followed Han Xin's orders and made a detour to encircle Maodun from behind.
When Maodun saw the two armies that descended from the sky, he was shocked and didn't understand why the Han army had made a detour in advance in the place he had chosen for the battle. He forced himself to calm down and led the army to break through.
When Han Xin saw the two armies appear on time, he laughed out loud and said, "The Xiongnu Chanyu is trying to escape. Kill him!"
The three armies of the Han army moved together to strangle the Xiongnu army. After several hours of bloody fighting, most of the Xiongnu fled with Maodun. The Han army was short of cavalry and did not pursue them.
The Han army killed 30,000 Huns and captured 50,000. Together with the previous 20,000, the northern Hu people's march south was a serious blow.
Maodun, who had never suffered such a major defeat, was very angry. The only thing he was thankful for was that his headquarters did not suffer too much damage this time, and he could continue to integrate the weakened tribes. He decided to completely integrate the entire grassland, not just the current loose alliance.
When he crossed the Great Wall and returned to the Hetao region, Luoling sent a Xiongnu man to Maodun with a letter that began: "The King of Su traveled among men to ask for a letter from the Xiongnu Chanyu."
The letter contained Luo Ling's various reprimands for Maodun, and he demanded that Maodun kneel down and walk to Yinshan Mountain to beg for forgiveness, otherwise he would be punished by God.
Luo Ling certainly knew that Maodun would not come, but this was exactly his purpose.
————
The Xiongnu invaded like a whirlwind and a fire. When the Duke heard about it, he said, "Since King Su is not well, I will head north."
Then he entered the grassland, went upstream along the stream, and passed 81 tribes of the Xiongnu. He was not stained by the dust of the world, but drank the air of heaven and earth and absorbed the essence of the sun and moon. The Hu people regarded him as a god and all knelt down to worship him.
The Duke observed that the people were like the other Xia people, and said, "Three out of ten are descendants of the Xia people. They learn the Hu language, wear Hu clothes, and follow Hu customs. When they die, they will be forever in hell and will not be able to see the spirits of their ancestors. How sad it is." - "Records of the Grand Historian: The Family of Duke Zhao of Luo"
Asking for a monthly ticket~
(End of this chapter)
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