Chapter 163: Diverting trouble to the west

Chapter 163: Diverting trouble to the west

In late autumn, the situation in Dongxia Prefecture became turbulent again. The turmoil that occurred in the north of Kuli Sichuan spread rapidly to the surrounding areas, so that the chaos in the territory was as bad as when Liu Pingfu raised his troops to rebel in the seventh year of Datong.

This wave of turmoil is also closely related to Liu Pingfu's rebellion, but there are two completely different rumors floating around in the south and north.

Rumors near Kulichuan are that the Western Dynasty sent an elite army to attack and kill Liu Zhenqiang, Liu Pingfu's son, successor to Shanyu, and named the chief of the people by the Eastern Dynasty, and that soon they would launch a large-scale raid on the barbarians in the territory. , called on the Jihu tribes to raise troops to avenge Liu Zhenqiang, and in this way contacted the Eastern Dynasty, asking the Eastern Dynasty to send troops to rescue them.

But in the northern border of Dongxia Prefecture, there is a completely opposite statement: Liu Zhenqiang, the son of Liu Pingfu, returned from the Eastern Dynasty and massacred the barbarians in the territory to avenge the barbarians who were unable to work together to fight against the Western Army. .

Although the accounts are different, the commotion in both places was equally violent. A large number of barbarians from the south were dispatched to sweep northward to pursue the Western murderers who killed Liu Zhenqiang. Of course, they also had the intention of evading the sweep of the Western Dynasty army.

The northern border is also uneasy. It is said that more than a dozen large and small Hu tribes have been raided and looted by Liu Zhenqiang's subordinates. The methods of this tribe are cruel and they leave no one or livestock wherever they go, which also puts everyone in the Hu tribe in the territory in danger.

"What nonsense! I am so cruel?"

When he heard that the tongue captured by the scout actually slandered him as a murderer, Li Tai felt very unhappy. He didn't kill all the cattle, sheep, women and children, he just drove them into the wilderness and left them to fend for themselves.

What's more, the tribes they wiped out were not as many as a dozen. At the beginning, they successfully wiped out three Hu tribes by using Liu Zhenqiang's identity.

However, these three Hu tribes are not large in size, and their power and reserves are only mediocre. They see that it is not easy to survive the winter, so they were so enthusiastic when they learned that Liu Zhenqiang, the great Hu chief, was recruiting to cause rebellion, and wanted to follow the powerful chief. Take advantage of the fire to rob and plunder.

But there is no airtight wall in the world. Jihu's talent for escaping is already extremely high, and it is difficult for them to guarantee that they can block the news every time. As the incident spreads to everyone, it will be a bit difficult to deceive him.

In the last two times, they defeated the Hu tribe with head-on battles. Yu Wentai can't rely on him, and Gao Huan's prestige is also so-so. It doesn't work very well after using it twice. As expected, only he is the most reliable.

Over the past few days, their group has wandered from the north bank of the Kuli River to the vicinity of Qingshui. Qingshui is known as Yanhe in later generations and is one of the most important river systems in northern Shaanxi.

Six or seven Jihu tribes were wiped out along the way, and the tribes were slightly damaged. In addition to their respective mounts, the horse herd successfully expanded to more than 1,500 horses, and more than 300 Hanhu Zhuang men were adopted.

Because the team must ensure sufficient mobility, apart from the increase in men and horses, there are not many other gains. However, as the team's goals have expanded much, its mobility has also been greatly reduced, and the problem of manpower and horse supply has become increasingly serious.

Several times when they stopped to rest, they were even approached by some Jihu pursuers from the south near the team's camp, so they had no choice but to mount their horses and continue running for their lives.

Although the large group of pursuers have not yet caught up, the more and more frequent encounters with the Hu soldiers and scouts have gradually exposed their whereabouts to the enemy's eyes and ears, and they are no longer as flexible as before.

Of course, although there are many Jihu troops, they do not have a unified and effective command and control, and it is difficult to cooperate with each other. For the time being, they do not have to worry about being surrounded by a group of Hus.

However, the space for activities was greatly compressed, and Li Tai also felt that he had had enough of his time. Therefore, although he encountered the Hu tribe in the past two days, he mostly avoided fighting and prepared to move to the south.

In a dry river valley, Li Dao, who had gone out to check the road information to the south, was riding back. He said with a somewhat solemn expression: "Master Lang, the defender of Fushi City only has more than 300 defenders, and he dare not rush out of the city to meet him." Sakon said The road is also covered with traces, making it extremely difficult to pass through. It is said that the Black Water Bandit Hu, three thousand-horse commanders and five thousand-horse commanders near the Kuli River, mobilized their troops to search for our whereabouts..."

This is really not good news. Even though Li Tai is used to enjoying hardships, he couldn't help cursing secretly at this moment: "These Blackwater Hus are really evil. I just killed one He Liuhunfeng." Is it worthy of them to send out all the troops to take revenge? I will definitely ask Daxingtai to return to this area and kill all these thieves!"

I have scolded you, but you still have to face what you should face. The current situation is that it was fine when I came here, but in the blink of an eye I might not be able to go back.

The Blackwater Hu group was alarmed and spread widely across the southern region of Dongxia Prefecture, directly blocking their way back. There is also a more critical point, that is, have the southern states and counties sent troops to the north to conquer and support them?

Currently, they are isolated in the northern border of Dongxia State, and they have no idea what the situation is in the south. But looking at the activities of these Blackwater Hus, it is very likely that Huazhou did not send troops.

The reason why he sent Lu Yannan to report the news was that he hoped to use Lu Yan's brother Lu Tong's influence in Ba Mansion to send troops here. Now it seems that the effect is not great.

After all, there are different plans at each level. For him, it is a big issue of life and death, but in the eyes of people at a higher level, this may not be the case.

The northern Shaanxi region was originally a fringe area of ​​the Western Wei Dynasty and was in a semi-abandoned state. Military investment had never been large, otherwise the Jihu forces would not have become so rampant.

And now that the Great Reading is approaching, this is the core matter for Yuwentai Ba Mansion to repair its military equipment and control the powerful forces in Guanzhong. Under such circumstances, moving the army northward would be a bit of a waste of time.

Li Tai's efforts seem to have gained a lot, but it mainly took advantage of surprise and many tricks, which does not mean that Jihu's power is completely vulnerable. Moreover, this is also his unauthorized claim. Bafu has neither the preparation nor the obligation to cooperate.

Chen Qingzhi made a superb effort all the way into Luoyang City, but in the end he inevitably failed.

Li Tai's situation here is pretty good. The problem is that the Bafu doesn't know the specific situation. They probably don't believe that Li Tai disrupted the entire Dongxia Prefecture with only five or six hundred people. They probably still suspect that the Eastern Wei Dynasty has sent troops. He wants to open up a new battlefield here. I was beaten so severely last year, so of course I have to be conservative now and don't dare to be greedy for credit.

The blind spots in information and vision cannot be filled by a sudden inspiration. We need to be careful in using our troops, and we cannot always hope that everything will go wrong.

Even if Bafu doesn't send troops to rescue him, Li Tai has nothing to complain about. In the past, when the boss wiped his butt, it was only for personal matters, but this time it is really difficult to wipe, and maybe he will have to mess with it.

A living person cannot suffocate to death. After confirming that the road back to the south was a bit difficult, Li Tai smiled and said to his rather sad subordinates: "Since we can't return to the south, let's continue on the road to Xi'an Prefecture. This trip There’s always a beginning and an end!”

Over this period of time, he has established absolute authority in the tribe. Regardless of force or intelligence, his subordinates have no doubts about him.

So after hearing what he said, the hesitation and worry in everyone's eyes disappeared. They took the time to eat, feed their horses, and prepare to continue on the road.

Li Tai felt a little unhappy when he saw that everyone was busy with their own affairs without asking why they went to Xi'an Prefecture. Even if you understand my idea of ​​diverting trouble to the west, shouldn't you praise my lord for his clever plan? Even if this is a baseless thing, who wouldn’t want to hear a few more words of flattery?

The subordinates are too lazy to do anything, and this team is really boring to lead!

Li Tai could only munch on half a piece of dry biscuit, wait until everyone was ready, and then led the crowd to move west.

Xi'an Prefecture is located in Wuyuan, northwest of where they are currently, just go west along the Qingshui River. After traveling dozens of miles in one breath, the journey was unexpectedly quiet, and there was no sign of the Jihu scouts who would show their heads from time to time.

Obviously, their group's sudden turn was beyond the expectations of Jihu's pursuers. In the past two days, Li Tai had been leading his troops to try to break out of the encirclement southward, so Jihu's followers were mainly concentrated in the southern area. Suddenly turning westward, there was no longer any trace of Jihu's pursuers ahead.

"The thief is heading west? No matter where he goes, he will be pursued to the end!"

When he heard that the scouts ahead reported the enemy's movements, King Hao Ren glared and roared, ordered the team to set off, adjusted their direction and continued to pursue.

His hatred for this enemy team was deep in his bones. The accumulation and construction he had worked hard on for several years were destroyed in one day. If they still escaped and could not be completely wiped out, then he would not have to hang out in Kulichuan in the future. , everyone knows he is a softie.

King Hao Ren was still determined to kill, but the other Hu tribes did not have such fighting spirit.

The reason why they participated in the pursuit was naturally because they were worried that the Eastern Dynasty might be angry because of Liu Zhenqiang's death, and the other reason was that this enemy army cared nothing about killing and buried them, and gained a lot of advantages by following behind. A rare opportunity to merge small tribes and strengthen yourself.

But now that they had to pursue the enemy across the border and leave their familiar hometown, the Hu chiefs were secretly hesitant and unwilling to risk crossing the border. But soon, King Hao Ren's subordinates sent a batch of cattle and sheep materials confiscated along the way, and asked them to continue the pursuit.

"This Hao Wanqi is also blinded by hatred. He has only a few hundred enemy members. Is he worthy of being chased by all the tribes? However, there are many western bandit ranches in the upper reaches of Qingshui River, so they are worth chasing after!"

After a Hu chieftain accepted the gift from King Hao Ren, he pondered for a moment and then smiled and decided to continue the pursuit.

The various tribes are working on their own, and large-scale operations like this one are rare. The villages in Dongxia Prefecture have been swept to the extreme desolation. It would be good to take advantage of this large number of people to go to other areas to sweep.

When they continued on the road to pursue, most of the Hu chiefs were in a relaxed mood. After several days of tracking, they had been able to determine that this group of troops was alone. There were no other troops to support them, and the threat was not great.

However, when they were camping at night, a mountain fire suddenly spread in a ravine. The camp soldiers got up in panic. Soon they found hundreds of figures shaking on the slope, pointing at them and laughing and insulting them.

"Charge! Kill all these Han slaves and thieves!"

King Hao Ren led hundreds of soldiers to bypass the mountain fire and rush towards the slope. However, when they arrived, the enemy soldiers had already fled away, leaving only a Beijing temple built with hundreds of Jihu heads on the hillside. Full of provocation. Then King Hao Ren's angry roar echoed through the night again.