Chapter 1061 The Thief Comes to Die
After returning to Heyang, Hulugu began to prepare for the attack behind enemy lines. Knowing that this mission would be difficult and dangerous, he carefully selected the soldiers for this battle, all of whom were brave and elite soldiers in the army.
Under Hulugu's strict selection standards, only less than 5,000 elite soldiers were finally selected from tens of thousands of troops in Heyang, and only one elite soldier could be selected among a dozen people. The selected elite soldiers were all strong, brave, and strong, and had various military skills in riding, shooting, and fighting.
At the same time, the military order from Yedu was also delivered to Heyang. When the expedition was about to begin, in order to make these soldiers realize the importance and danger of this mission, Hulugu gathered them in the parade ground in the north city of Heyang for another lecture.
"Going west to Qiziling this time, deep into the enemy's territory and attacking the bandits' rear is by no means an easy task. The road to Qiziling is dangerous and the bandit leader Li Boshan is known for his cunning, so he may not be completely unprepared. Only by being brave enough to die in the face of the enemy can you have a chance of success!"
Huoluguang looked at the soldiers in the parade ground and said loudly: "If this attack is successful, you will sweep across Hedong and capture the powerful enemy. You will also be famous in the world, rewarded by the emperor, and your wife and children will be given titles! If it fails, there is only progress but no retreat, only death but no life, and you will die in a foreign country and never return!"
When the soldiers in the parade ground heard this, their faces suddenly became solemn. Some disciples of the Hulu family were worried that Huluguang's words were too serious and scared everyone away, so they couldn't help but wink at Huluguang frequently.
However, Hulugu turned a blind eye to this, still looking at the crowd and shouting: "I am now selecting loyal and brave soldiers from all the armies, just to kill the enemy and make merit! Tell you that if you don't have this generous spirit and mistakenly enter here, you will retreat within three drums!"
With Hulugu's order, the sound of passionate war drums suddenly rang out outside the parade ground. At this time, in the parade ground, after hearing Hulugu's warning, the soldiers were more or less nervous in their hearts, after all, everyone has a fear. If you don't even have a little awe in troubled times, you probably won't live long.
But most people didn't move their feet and still stood in the queue despite their trepidation. There are indeed many terrible people and things in this world, but there are also many things worth striving for, even at the cost of their lives.
Even if some people were worried and wanted to leave the team, when they looked around, they saw that their comrades were standing there with a determined look, so they also made up their minds and stood there motionless.
The three drum beats ended quickly, and only a few people left the parade ground. As the drums stopped, shouts came from the scene: "I am willing to fight to the death with the king! Make achievements! Capture Li Boshan alive!"
The noisy shouts lasted for more than a quarter of an hour, and Hulugu did not stop it. To be honest, even he himself was not very sure whether this trip would be successful, so he had to do some psychological preparation before leaving.
Even though he had described the situation so seriously, the soldiers were still willing to choose to follow him to fight. They must have made a great determination and were inevitably excited. They needed to vent their emotions in this way.
However, after leaving the training ground, Hulugu carried out strict military orders. After quickly packing up their luggage, the soldiers left the northern city of Heyang and rode towards Chenguan at full speed.
Chenguan Pass is the first of the eight passes in Taihang Mountain. It is located at the southern foot of Taihang Mountain and the northwest of Henei. Not far to the west is Qiziling.
Qiziling is the border between the east and the west. Because of its ravines and rugged mountains, neither side occupied this place. They only selected a few dangerous mountain passes on the side close to them to guard.
However, since Qiziling itself is not very high in altitude and the mountains are not steep, many mountain passes are passable as long as you can endure the hardship of crossing mountains and ridges. Therefore, the defensive role that these garrisons can play is not very large, and they still cannot stop the cross-border exchanges between the troops of both sides.
The elite troops led by Hulugu soon arrived at the location of Chenguan. He first sent several teams of 100 people to choose mountain roads to cross Qiziling, and established a stable forward base opposite Qiziling, while he led the main force to temporarily stay at Chenguan.
Although the time was tight and the opportunity for war might be fleeting, Hulugu did not choose to go straight ahead blindly. Instead, he waited until the news of the safety of the situation came from the opposite side of Qiziling before he led the main force to cross the mountains.
After crossing Qiziling, they arrived at Shao County, which belonged to the territory of the Western Wei Dynasty. Now it has been upgraded to Shaozhou in the Western Wei Dynasty. Shao County is located between the two major mountain ranges of Zhongtiao Mountain and Wangwu Mountain. The Yellow River flows from the south, and a narrow strip of land running east-west has been deposited between the two mountains. Baishui City, the seat of Shao County, is located in it.
Because of the mountains and rivers, Shao County is not closely connected to the Western Wei mainland. Since the establishment of the Western Wei, this area has always relied on Yang Yu, a native of Zhengping County, to guard it. Yang Yu's father once served as the magistrate of Baishui County, so Yang Yu has close ties with the powerful families in this area, so he can guard this area all year round.
"What is the current enemy situation?"
After crossing Qiziling and arriving at the front camp, Hulugu asked the front troops about the military situation here.
"Your Majesty, the gates of all the cities in Baishui are tightly closed, and the forts in the territory are also not answered. There are no farmers working in the fields, and there is no enemy army to hinder our advance or retreat!"
After hearing this question, the sergeant who was exploring the front hurriedly reported in detail.
After hearing this, Hulugu nodded slightly. The absence of enemy traces between the city and the field did not rule out the enemy army pretending to be weak and pretending to be empty. But now is the busy season of spring and summer, and there are no farmers working in the wilderness. It can be seen that the enemy has really left the territory, and the defense in the territory is empty, so the people in the territory are so cautious.
Shao County is located in a remote and isolated area relative to the territory of the Western Wei Dynasty. The supply of materials depends mostly on the harvest of local cultivation, and it is very difficult to transfer materials from the outside. It is definitely not a wise move to bury the hidden danger of a year's poor harvest for the sake of a temporary strategy of luring the enemy. Moreover, even Hulugu himself decided to attack the Western Wei from this direction after discussing with the King of Changshan. It was even more impossible for the garrison here to give up a year's harvest just to create confusion.
"My king, the thief general Yang Yu has repeatedly caused trouble and invaded Henei. This time, we enter the country while his troops are weak. Should we attack and burn his city?"
After confirming that the enemy's strength in the territory was weak, a general could not help but speak up. The troops guarding Heyang were also responsible for guarding the Henei area. They hated Yang Yu and his troops who often invaded Henei. Now that they had entered this area, they wanted to solve this trouble once and for all.
After hearing this, Hulugu shook his head and said in a deep voice: "Shao County is just a minor issue. After passing through Guzhong Road, we will find the heart of the enemy. Now that we have come here, we should attack the heart of the enemy directly, and there is no need to waste energy on the branches!"
In order to ensure the speed of the march, Hulugu also adopted the strategy of the Wei army's previous northward advance, and did not choose to focus on the city garrisons along the way. He only left a part of the soldiers to guard the passages, and then led the troops to continue northward.
At the junction of Wangwu Mountain and Zhongtiao Mountain, the mountains and fields are relatively flat, which is convenient for people and horses to advance and retreat. This road is called Guzhong Road, because it passes through Guzhong City, where the copper official of Wangwu Mountain was located in the old days.
At this time, they had already entered deep into the enemy territory, so naturally there was no shortage of enemy spies. If the enemy had any troops nearby, then the movements of Hulugu's troops would naturally not be hidden from the enemy. Therefore, the most important thing at the moment was to bring the troops to an area that was convenient for combat as soon as possible, and there was no need to hope to hide their whereabouts under the enemy's nose.
So Hulugu changed his cautious attitude when crossing Qiziling before, and led two thousand troops into the Guzhong Road first, and the rest of the troops followed closely behind, and deliberately chose a time when the vision was wide and the energy was high to cross the most dangerous section of the Guzhong Road.
"Don't stop, keep moving forward!"
Because they were afraid that the enemy would ambush them on the mountain road, in order to deal with the battle that could happen at any time, the troops in front directly put on armor and walked in the densely vegetated mountains. It was very hard to trek through the mountains and fields. After walking a distance, many strong and healthy soldiers couldn't help but pant for breath.
However, Hulugu knew that this section of the journey was extremely dangerous, so in order not to delay the overall marching speed of the team, he ordered his men to keep going all the way. He himself was already very tired, but he still gritted his teeth and continued to move forward.
The team trudged through the mountains and fields for more than two hours, and the sky changed from early morning to noon. The mountains ahead gradually became flat, and there was also the sound of gurgling mountain streams. The mountain breeze blowing in the face was mixed with a refreshing moisture, blowing on people's faces and instantly making people feel refreshed.
Although the most dangerous journey had passed, Hulugu still did not dare to relax. He looked back at the tired soldiers around him and said in a deep voice: "As long as we can enter the valley entrance in front and drink water and eat by the stream, half of the success will be achieved! Bloodbath Hedong and attack the enemy's rear road, this is the first move!"
As he spoke, he took the lead and strode towards the exit of the mountain valley in front. After seeing this, a group of armored soldiers also became excited and followed Hulugu closely with swords and spears in their hands and rushed to the valley entrance.
The closer to the valley entrance, the fresher and cooler the mountain breeze is, which makes people more excited. When Hulugu, who had been walking straight all the way, came here, his steps gradually became heavy. As he said, as long as they could enter the valley entrance in front, the team would have a stable rest and advance base. At that time, they would go west and north, and the enemy would not be able to stop them!
But if the enemy army had been prepared, then this valley entrance would be the last place where troops and horses could be deployed in addition to the previous mountain road. The success or failure of this trip will be decided in the next few breaths!
Approaching the mountainside of the valley entrance, Hulugu first took a deep breath, then took a step out and looked into the valley. Then his heart suddenly sank. He saw that the valley was full of enemy flags, armor and staffs!
"Thieves, come and die!"
On the slope in the valley, Yang Yu looked at the enemy army that had already walked out of the ridge, raised his hand and waved it vigorously, and the valley suddenly sounded drums and horns, and the sound shook the wild.
Before the battle, Hulugu quickly calmed down, discarded some of the disappointment in his mind, and immediately raised his arms and shouted: "What is there to fear about the cowardly thieves? Now that the army has come here, there is no retreat, kill!"