Chapter 390 Luo Ling finally arrived at the grassland
Qilian Chanyu now wanted to kill himself. Just because of such a short delay, such a great defeat occurred. Zuo Xian Wang was one of the most important supporting forces of the Xiongnu. This loss would probably not be too small.
By the time Qilian Chanyu arrived with his army, Zhou Yafu had already formed his battle formation and even cleaned up the battlefield. The baggage that had been discarded before was even stored up, and many carcasses of war horses were carried in and started to be cut up. The meat could not be stored for long, but if eaten right away it could still last for two meals.
The current situation on the field is that Zhou Yafu led the army to defend the hills formed by three high grounds, while Qilian Chanyu led the Xiongnu army to form an encirclement. The situation is not good for the Han army, but Zhou Yafu is not too panicked.
"Although our army is short of food and grass, the Huns are equally short of food and grass, especially since they have many horses and consume more. Now they are surrounding our army, so we must transfer food and grass from other places. The other three armies of the Han Dynasty are also rushing here. Now the Huns are surrounding us, and then we will be surrounding the Huns. The outcome is still unknown."
Zhou Yafu analyzed the situation in detail. Now the Han army and the Huns were in a situation where they were in a dilemma. Qilian Chanyu looked at the densely packed chariots and knew that he could not charge into the battle line to die. The Han army's bows and crossbows were so powerful that no one knew how many people would die. Zhou Yafu was also unwilling to fight. If the Han army went out, they would only be beaten by the Huns, and die in vain, round after round.
All they could do now was to drag it out and see who would give up and retreat first. The breeze on the grassland blew across everyone's face. Naturally, the Huns' army arrived first. Qilian Chanyu launched a tentative attack, but was quickly suppressed by the Han army's rain of arrows.
The bodies of the Huns lay on the hillside. Zhou Yafu's face also looked bad. The consumption of arrows was getting higher and higher. Once the arrows were exhausted, they would have to face the enemy directly. Moreover, although the Huns were attacking from a low position, they still caused a lot of casualties to the Han army.
The people Zhou Yafu brought with him were all Han civilians who had received military training, while the Xiongnu who died were all slaves among the herdsmen, which made Zhou Yafu feel like his heart was bleeding.
After a long wait, the Han army combining infantry and cavalry finally arrived. Zhou Yafu instantly became energetic upon seeing this, and the strength on the field was now balanced again.
When Qilian Chanyu faced the Han army that had just arrived, he felt relieved instead. He began to divide his troops. One part of them surrounded Zhou Yafu's army, while the other part started a fierce battle with the Han army that had just arrived.
The tactics on the grassland are completely different from those in the Central Plains. The terrain of the Central Plains is extremely complex, with mountains and rivers that are impossible for people to pass through. Fortresses are built in relatively dangerous locations, forming pockets.
Bai Qi was able to win a great victory at Changping because he took advantage of the terrain, cut off the Zhao army's food supply, and forced the Zhao army to surrender because they could not get out of the pocket formation.
But it’s not like that on the grassland. The grassland is interconnected in all directions. Once you get on a horse, it is impossible to wipe out the enemy completely. If you can’t win, can’t you just run away?
Zhou Yafu would naturally not watch the Han army coming to support suffer an attack in vain, so he immediately began to slowly lead his troops forward, and the rumbling chariots attacked the Huns' army.
There was a fierce battle between the two sides, leaving many corpses scattered again. The two sides were in a stalemate and the Xiongnu leader was unable to retreat.
In the great battle on the grassland, if the Xiongnu Khan retreated in front of so many people, it would be a huge damage to his prestige.
Politics determines military affairs. Conversely, it can also be said that any military action is intended to achieve political goals. The first goal of the Xiongnu Chanyu is to ensure his own status. If military action will affect his status, he will not do it. However, Zhou Yafu cannot retreat either, as he represents the face of the Han Dynasty.
As a result, both sides had food and grass support, and they were deadlocked on the grassland. Zhou Yafu sent a messenger to Chang'an to report the current situation to the emperor. He did not know Liu Che's goal, so he did not dare to leave the grassland.
There was chaos in the Han army camp because General Zhou Yafu seemed to have caught a cold a few days ago and fell ill.
He was already old, and even if he was still strong, his body functions were actually no longer functioning. Now he was seriously ill. When the two sides were confronting each other, the commander fell ill. This was a disaster for the Han army.
Everyone paced outside the tent anxiously. "What should we do? Without the general, who can command hundreds of thousands of troops? Who can unify so many troops? If the Huns attack, how can we resist them?"
This was the biggest problem the Han army encountered. Commanding a leader is a talent, and not everyone can command a large army. Once Zhou Yafu suddenly died of illness, the army would be faced with a situation of being leaderless, and the various units would be unable to coordinate with each other, and would definitely be defeated one by one by the Xiongnu Chanyu.
In the central army tent, Zhou Yafu's face was pale, and his tone was full of regret. "I should have led the army back to the Central Plains decisively instead of worrying about your majesty's punishment. As a result, I am now in a dilemma and even seriously ill, causing the army to be in danger. This is my fault!"
Upon hearing this, the Marquis of Ruyin also said sadly: "General, life and death, disaster, happiness and injury, these are all sent by God to the world. Who can know? This is not your fault."
Zhou Yafu forced himself to support his sick body, slowly sat up and said, "We can't continue in this stalemate. Pass my order to the whole army to break camp, link up with the chariots, and retreat slowly. Even if we can retreat twenty miles a day, or even ten miles, that would be great."
The people in the tent immediately received the order. Zhou Yafu said, "Send more messengers back to the Central Plains, but don't say that the general is seriously ill. Just say that Your Majesty needs to change the general and that Zhou Yafu cannot take on the important task."
Everyone was shocked when they heard this, knowing that Zhou Yafu did this to prevent the Huns from intercepting the information. Now that the two sides were in a stalemate, it was natural that the general could not be seen. However, if the Huns knew that the general was seriously ill and unable to perform duties, even if they suspected it was a tactic of confusing the enemy at first, they would be able to find out his depth with just a little probing, and the consequences would be disastrous.
Qilian Chanyu indeed had no doubts. After all, who could have thought that in the middle of a good battle, the opposing commander would fall down on his own? There was too little history to refer to in the Han Dynasty. If one goes back another thousand or two thousand years, such things would happen frequently. For example, a famous smallpox survivor would always fall ill inexplicably and then die suddenly whenever he made a mess that was about to be out of control, and eventually his elder brother would become famous.
Even when the Han army began to slowly retreat, Qilian Chanyu thought that the Han army had finally figured it out. He even smiled proudly at the Xiongnu kings and said, "The Han army has begun to retreat. They finally understand that this grassland belongs to us, Daxia.
There is no flock of sheep in this world that can escape from the mouth of a wolf pack intact, and the same is true for the Han people. We cannot let them leave here easily. We must chase them and let all the Han people know the might of Daxia, so that they will be afraid when they think of the grassland. "
The Huns were chasing the Han army like a pack of wolves. Zhou Yafu's health was getting worse and worse, and he was just holding on. Fortunately, a simple retreat did not require him to make all the arrangements. But everyone knew that if the Han army continued to behave like this, it was only a matter of time before they were discovered by the Huns.
"General, the army is moving very fast. The Huns are afraid of a big battle, so they have been keeping a distance from us and have not yet attacked us. When we get to Beidi County, we will find a doctor for you. You will be fine."
Zhou Yafu shook his head and asked hoarsely, "How often have the Xiongnu attacked in recent days? Has the number of their attackers changed? How many soldiers do they have?"
The Marquis of Ruyin and the others reported one by one. Zhou Yafu's face turned paler as he listened. When everyone finished speaking, he sighed heavily and said, "The Huns' Chanyu has discovered it!"
"What?"
The Marquis of Ruyin forced a smile and said, "General, you must be joking. If the Xiongnu found out, why wouldn't they attack with their entire army?"
Zhou Yafu smiled bitterly and said, "Because they are just suspicious, but soon the Huns will send out their elite troops to test us."
The tent fell silent for a moment. These people grew up listening to the story of Huaiyin Wumu Hou, but the strongest general they had ever seen was Zhou Yafu. They had an instinctive trust in Zhou Yafu's words, and everyone had regarded Zhou Yafu's words as something that would definitely happen.
Then reality soon developed as Zhou Yafu had expected. After the most elite cavalry of the Xiongnu kings fought with the Han army, they left like a gust of wind.
"Stop the army and have one last fight with the Huns. You will have to walk the rest of the way on your own. Bring the Han soldiers back and don't let your majesty down. This is the only thing I can do."
Zhou Yafu's words were very calm, but many people in the tent had tears in their eyes, and the Marquis of Ruyin was even wiping away tears quietly.
Because everyone could hear a hint of tragedy in Zhou Yafu's words. Using his body to command a high-intensity war was basically equivalent to having one foot halfway into the gates of hell.
"Yes, sir!"
Inside the big tent, all the generals responded in unison.
…
Just ten miles away from the confrontation between the Han army and the Huns, Luo Ling's carriage swayed here. The old horse was quite smart, and it took many turns along the way to bring Luo Ling here.
Luo Ling looked at the murderous aura gathered by the army in the distance, with no expression on his face. He just pointed slightly, and then Lao Ma took him towards the war.
The Han army and the Huns had already begun to confront each other. Luo Ling climbed over the top of a hill, looked at the two armies from afar, and then suddenly slapped the frame of the carriage.
"boom!"
It was like a roar of thunder, echoing across the grassland. The horses were so startled that they jumped up on the spot. Both the Han army and the Huns looked towards the source of the sound.
A man stands high on the top of the hill!
(End of this chapter)
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