Establishing a thousand-year family from the nobles of the Western Han Dynasty

Chapter 55: A sneak attack on Gaoque, Huo Xu shows off his power
In the vast desert, scattered buildings stand in the wilderness, although they have been abandoned for a long time.

At this time, bursts of dull sound of horse hooves were heard, as if the whole earth was shaking a few times.

"General, why do we have to go so far around? Didn't the Prime Minister want us to wait for an opportunity to attack?" Li Xi looked at Wei Qing in confusion, still a little confused.

In fact, he was a little unconvinced in his heart. After all, this man had not done anything and was promoted to such a high position as General of Chariots and Cavalry just because he was a relative of the emperor. In the army, military achievements matter, so it is impossible for anyone to be without complaints.

Soon after the imperial court announced the dispatch of troops, the Xiongnu royal court also launched a massive invasion of Shanggu and Yuyang. The governor of Liaoxi was killed in the battle, and the Xiongnu were still sending more troops. So Xu Gong ordered the vanguard to eliminate this threat first, and then go deeper into the grassland.

The vanguard troops were Wei Qing's 10,000 cavalrymen and Xu Gong's eldest son Xu Nan's 30,000 cavalrymen who met the enemy head-on.

Wei Qing looked into the distance and said, "What I need to do is to fight quickly and decisively! Go around the enemy's rear and cut off the connection between their royal court and the Baiyang King and Loufan King and the rear! This way, we can win the battle in one go."

Li Xi thought about it carefully and realized that it was indeed the case. The Huns were confronting Xu Nan and they would definitely not guess that they would send out an army to go around behind them.

The essence of military affairs is to achieve victory by surprise!

Then, Wei Qing ordered his men to blow the horn symbolizing the attack, and 30,000 Han cavalry rushed towards Gaoque like a pack of wolves with bared fangs.

"Kill!"

The Han army drew their weapons and launched a fierce attack on the Xiongnu positions ahead.

In an instant, the Hun troops stationed there came to their senses and picked up their weapons, ready to mount their horses and resist.

But it was obvious that the Han army would not give them a chance. The cavalry dived at high speed and arrived in the crowd in the blink of an eye. After several waves of charges, the Huns were either trampled into meat paste or smashed into pieces before they could even get on their horses.

How could the few thousand people stationed here possibly stop ten thousand elite Han cavalry? Naturally, they could only be defeated.

"General, in this battle, only dozens of our soldiers suffered minor scratches, but it does not affect the combat." Soon a general came to report the battle damage.

Wei Qing nodded and made a prompt decision: "Leave 3,000 men to guard the place, and the rest will go to help General Xu."

.........

On the Shanggu front, the Han army's battle array had already been deployed, and Xu Nan was commanding the army to confront the Huns.

This time the other side dispatched several large tribes, with a total of 50,000 to 60,000 people including the old and the weak. They had already robbed food and people, but were afraid of an ambush, so they did not dare to act rashly.

Xu Nan's martial arts were not as good as Xu Chu's, but his abilities were very balanced. He followed Zhou Yafu to garrison in the border for many years and made great military achievements, so he was considered a good general.

Talents like Xu Gong and Xu Zhao cannot be produced in every era. At least, there is no one among the younger generations of the Xu family who can take on the leading responsibility.

"Follow me, everyone! Women, gold, silver, slaves, whatever you want, you can get with the sword and bow in your hand."

King Aries looked at the people below who were getting excited. The fighting method of the Huns, including most nomadic peoples, was "Tian Ji's Horse Racing", where they first used the old and weak to consume the enemy's manpower and physical strength, and then sent the elite troops to charge at the end.

On the grassland, it is all about survival of the fittest. This method can also select elites. If you don't have the strength, you will be slaughtered.

"Kill, kill, kill!" Everyone was very excited. They had increased their looting efforts in recent years and were going to get more than ever before.

Suddenly, tens of thousands of elite Hu cavalry rushed forward shouting "Ah Ah", and attacked anyone they saw with great courage. For a moment, the Han army's battle line began to move backwards.

Seeing this, the Huns immediately rejoiced and began to intensify their attacks.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Xu Nan immediately sent out his elite infantry to cover the cavalry's charge. Yes, this was actually a means of showing weakness. He just wanted to lead them to a narrow terrain in order to better restrict the combat of large cavalry.

The fully armed Han cavalry was no match for the Huns who were wearing leather armor and holding bone weapons, so they were quickly thrown into disarray after several charges.

War is all about momentum. At the beginning, the army is strong, but at the second, it will weaken and at the third, it will be exhausted. Now that the Huns have suffered a setback, their morale has naturally plummeted.

Of course, if the organization was destroyed, they would become sitting ducks. Seeing that the situation was not good, King Aries immediately ordered a retreat, first leaving the Han territory, and when they reached the vast grassland, there would be plenty of opportunities for fish to leap.

At this moment, a young general in white robe and armor led hundreds of cavalry to break out of the encirclement and charge towards the central army where King Loufan of Baiyang was located.

Another young general rushed out from the side and followed closely behind.

"Not bad. You and I will each get one of the heads of these two Hun kings. Go and ask His Majesty for your reward."

Huo Qubing looked at Xu Chu with a smile.

"Right on my mind."

Although the two could not hear the sound, they could understand the meaning.

After the "division of the spoils" was completed, he concentrated on leading his troops to attack.

Xu Chu, who was chasing after them, of course also noticed these two reckless young men and sighed silently in his heart.

"These two children, with such heavy troops, even if their father came in person, it would be impossible to kill them."

Xu Nan had no choice but to give the order: "Let the archers harass, and all the cavalry move closer. Remember to bring those two back safely."

Suddenly, arrows rained down as if they were free, and the Han cavalry also charged forward madly. The area where the army passed was covered with corpses.

Huo Qubing's martial arts were very superb. The Hun soldiers along the way were no match for him and fell off their horses at the first encounter.

Xu Chu was not to be outdone and rushed forward to catch up.

"Surround those two guys!" King Loufan was very angry and sent people to deal with it with a wave of his hand.

Thousands of cavalrymen quickly surrounded the two men, and they were caught in a bitter battle under the siege of the large army, but this also made them give up on escaping and actually delayed some time.

At this moment, thousands of cavalrymen holding the Han Dynasty's banner appeared in the vast grassland, swooping towards this side with ring-handled swords in their hands.

"kill!"

The man who came was none other than General Wei Qing, the chariot and cavalry general who had captured Gaoque! He had rushed day and night and finally arrived in time.

Almost at the same moment, Xu Nan also led a large army to attack. At this time, the Han army had completed the strategic encirclement. The enemy could not escape unless they grew wings.

"Chu, you kill that Loufan King, and leave the rest to me."

"no problem."

Because of the arrival of outside reinforcements, the two men felt relieved all of a sudden. They broke out of the enemy's encirclement and split their forces into two groups, intending to strike first.

The cavalry under Huo Qubing were trained and selected by himself and were absolutely elite. He charged into the enemy camp twice as if he was in an empty space.

The same went for Xu Chu. No one could stop him either. His white robe was soaked in blood, making it look quite dazzling.

"You thief, you will be the first gift I present to His Majesty!" Huo Qubing shouted, raised his sword and slashed, and King Aries fell to the ground.

King Loufan quickly rode away on his horse, but was hit by an arrow shot by Xu Chu.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the Huns either laid down their weapons and surrendered, or dispersed. At that time, people's national consciousness was not too strong, and they had no psychological burden to side with a foreign race.

In this battle, the Han army took control of the Hetao area of ​​the Xiongnu, beheaded 3,000 people, captured 6,000 people, and seized millions of cattle and sheep. Wei Qing became famous in this battle, and the voices of disobedience in the army completely disappeared.

(End of this chapter)