Chapter 377: Dark and Bright
This battle that took place on the banks of the Fen River in mid-October was undoubtedly a rout, and it was a rout between cavalrymen, and it was also a rout between cavalrymen in which the two sides met on the road and won with fewer troops.
In this kind of battle, the only way to expand the results is to pursue the enemy quickly after the battle, or take advantage of the situation to cause casualties, or take advantage of the situation to seize some strategic locations.
Otherwise, this battle can only be said to have thwarted the Jin army's plan to launch a surprise attack on Hezhong.
Of course, this was already very remarkable, but Han Shizhong's temperament was there, and he would never give up... Therefore, after he succeeded in his charge, he just turned around and said something to Jie Yuan, and then immediately urged the Beiwei Army to pursue eastward against the Fen River.
But it is really difficult to cause a major rout of the Jin army.
Both sides were cavalry, and they arrived at the battlefield in a hurry, and then they took advantage of the battle to let their horses rest. At this time, it was impossible to catch up. In addition, there were too many Jin cavalry, and many of them had dismounted to fight before. Whether actively or passively, it also bought time for the Jin army in the rear to prepare for retreat.
In a sense, Salihe was actually decisive.
That evening, when Han Shizhong ordered to stop the pursuit because of the weather, he had actually entered Ji County, the hometown of his brother Jie Yuan. He could be said to have done what he said.
However, perhaps because of the need to clear the road and gather up the stragglers, Jie Yuan arrived at the village where Han Shizhong was stationed nearly an hour later than Han Shizhong.
When they entered the village, they saw that it was empty except for a few elderly people. This made Jie Shanliang, who was used to seeing similar things, feel a little irritated and uneasy.
When the two brothers met, Han Shizhong, who was wiping his spear by the campfire, spoke first: "Shanshan, is this your home?"
"No." Jie Yuan shook his head. "It's already past my home, it's a mountain valley. I dismounted and took a look, and it was already deserted."
Han Shizhong nodded and asked again: "How?"
"Not good." After decades of friendship, Jie Yuan certainly knew what the other party meant, and shook his head again. "The Fen River has become shallower now... and the sun is not too cold at noon. Many scattered Jin cavalrymen, those with horses, just hugged their horses' necks, and those without horses just took off their armor and ducked across the water. It was only slightly better than the one south of Tieling Pass... I guess they barely captured more than a thousand people."
"Not bad." Han Shizhong was not impressed. "We have crossed the river for ten days, fought three battles in a row, and captured three to four thousand people... This is the biggest victory of my life, what else do I expect?!"
Jie Yuan nodded and said, "The key is still Hedong City. If the Jin army cannot save Hezhong after this battle...then Wen Dunsizhong and his Wan Hu will be stuck."
"That's one and a half million households." Han Shizhong, sitting cross-legged on the ground, put a lasso on his spear and faced it proudly. "The people of the world should know why I, Han Shizhong, am unrivaled in the world."
"Fifth brother." Jie Yuan did not sit down, still sternly persuading across the campfire. "This war is a national war. We have more than 300,000 soldiers, and the Jin Kingdom also has 20,000 soldiers plus the Yanjing New Army. A few thousand soldiers and a thousand soldiers are just a prelude to the war. We must not be arrogant. Moreover, Balisu is still in the front and has no intention of retreating. Even the Hezhong Prefecture has not yet reached a conclusion."
"I know." Han Shizhong replied with a smile. "But since he has been frustrated this time, there is no point in keeping him. We should take advantage of the situation and drive him away!"
"I have sent people to look for Xu Shi'an, Chen Jue and the others." Jie Yuan responded immediately. "They should arrive tomorrow. We will then join forces, cross the Fen River in large numbers, capture Ji County on the north side of the river, and then advance to Jiangzhou. We will pretend to follow the Fen River to the north to cut off the Jin army's retreat. Balisu will either split his troops to cross the river to resist us, or just get out of here."
"Too slow!" Han Shizhong shook his head in response.
"Fifth brother, do you have any other ideas?" Jie Yuan understood what the other party meant after a little thought.
"What do you think of that mountain?" Han Shizhong pointed to the south.
Jie Yuan looked back in surprise, and saw a row of mountains with clear outlines in the twilight that was still filled with residual light and moonlight. They were squatting there in darkness. One of the mountains was relatively close, and was obviously taller and wider than the other mountains. It should be the place that Han Shizhong indicated... But Jie Yuan was still puzzled.
"If we want to drive Balisu away, we'd better strike while the iron is hot." Han Shizhong explained calmly. "While he is still confused about how many casualties we suffered in the daytime battle and how many troops we have, we should take a short break tonight and immediately rush over again, following Salihe's defeated army to knock on his camp and force him to withdraw his troops back to Linfen... But we have few soldiers, and if we rush forward hastily, we will also be short of logistics. If we are frustrated, it will be dawn, and something serious will happen..."
Jie Yuan nodded continuously. Not to mention that since ancient times, even the two of them had experienced countless cases of excessive joy leading to sorrow.
"However, fortunately, there is only a small river between the enemy camp and Tieling Pass. If Li Yanxian can know our intention in advance and join forces with us, even if it fails, we can still advance and retreat calmly." Han Shizhong continued, but he expressed his own thoughts. "So, I want to imitate Ma Kuo's behavior that day and set fire to the mountain to intimidate and also to communicate."
Jie Yuan was stunned for a moment, then shook his head instinctively: "Manager Ma did not burn the mountain that day."
"Same idea." Han Shizhong sneered. "We have rushed sixty miles in the afternoon. It is time to rest. Do you want us to make torches and go up the mountain again?"
Jie Yuan nodded, turned around and left without saying a word.
"Where are you going?" Han Shizhong asked in surprise.
"Let's burn the mountain." Jie Yuan didn't stop.
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