I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 240: The First Achievement in Becoming Famous

On the morning of November 16th, the first year of Zhengshi, the oath-taking ceremony was officially launched. Duan Xing gave an impassioned speech and ordered the entire army to have a full meal and drink a bowl of farewell wine, and then the entire army officially set off.

This time, Duan Xing decided to divide his troops into three groups.

Wang Chong, the General of the Imperial Guards, was ordered to lead 3,000 troops to Yingchuan County to meet with Yingchuan Prefect Zhang Wen. The two armies entered the State of Chen together to rescue it and defeat the invading enemy.

The newly appointed infantry captain and former Yuan official Tian De led 3,000 troops into Chenliu County, where he joined forces with Chenliu Prefect Wen Xiang to jointly defend Chenliu County. If any enemy invaded from Chenliu County, they would defeat them.

These two groups of people are both small forces.

As for the main force, Yuan Shu was appointed as the vanguard officer by Duan Xing after much effort, leading his 3,000 cavalry as the vanguard of the army and clearing the way in front. The remaining troops advanced slowly under the command of Duan Xing.

The troops headed straight for Dongjun.

In short, Duan Xing's plan was to maintain a defensive position in the two directions of Chenliu County and Yingchuan County, and arrange two strong generals and two elite troops to assist the two prefects in defensive operations. Do not take the initiative to attack, just stabilize the front line.

Then he led the main army along the Yellow River, followed the vanguard army into Dongjun from the north of Chenliu County, launched an attack in the direction of Puyang, and prepared to fight against the main force of the rebels.

Duan Xing still believed that the main force of the rebels would gather in Dongjun and march along the Yellow River towards Luoyang.

Based on a comprehensive assessment of a lot of intelligence, he concluded that the movements in Chenliu County and Yingchuan County were deliberate acts of the rebels, who were deliberately taking actions to confuse the court's attention. In fact, the main force of the rebels intended to set out from Dongjun and attack Luoyang directly.

So he had to fight back tit for tat, charge directly into the rebels' front line, use his command ability in field battles, confront the rebels head-on, and crush them completely.

The cavalry under Yuan Shu's command was the sharpest spear in his hand.

He wanted to use this spear to teach the rebels a lesson and at the same time, test their strength.

On the morning of November 21st of the first year of Zhengshi, the vanguard cavalry of Yuan Shu's army, who had just arrived in Yuanwu County and had rested for less than an hour and were eating breakfast, received a report from a scout that they had found an army setting up camp on the banks of the Yinshui River, 30 miles east of Yuanwu County.

There are about two to three thousand of them, mostly infantry, with a small number of cavalry. There are flags with names like "Liu" and "Cao" in the army. They are most likely rebels, but their numbers are small, and no other rebels were found in the surroundings. It seems that they are an isolated army.

When Yuan Shu heard the news, he frowned and after a little thought, he came up with an idea.

This wave of troops...

Could they be the vanguard of the rebellion?

So fast?
Yuan Shu asked his men to continue the exploration and he did not even have time to rest. He reorganized his soldiers and led his men slowly out of the city and towards the banks of the Yinshui River.

Half an hour later, the latest news came that the army had set up camp and was cooking, and did not move forward. Their defense was relatively loose, so they were not discovered when they approached and observed.

"There aren't many cavalrymen, mostly infantrymen. They didn't advance in the open, they buried their pots and cooked, their defenses were lax, and they made so many mistakes. Are they trying to lure me to attack?"

Yuan Shu felt puzzled, and then turned his gaze to Fan Li beside him.

Seeing Yuan Shu looking at him, Fan Li thought for a moment and said slowly, "It's hard to judge at the moment, but there can't be any ambushes hidden in this wilderness. If there were, the scouts would definitely find them, but there aren't any. Captain Yuan, could it be that... this rebel army has no defenses?"

Yuan Shu touched his chin and thought for a moment.

"The rebels rose up suddenly, and most of them are remnants of eunuchs. They may not have anyone who understands military tactics, so it is understandable that they made mistakes. With such a good opportunity in front of us, we can't just hesitate. Our troops are all cavalry, so even if they really have an ambush, we can quickly leave the battlefield, so... pass the order, the whole army advances!"

Fan Li hesitated for a moment and nodded.

"Here!"

At the same time, in the rebel camp, Jiang Yin, the rebel vanguard general and a close subordinate of Liu He, was eating in his tent.

As a vanguard general, he led the army all the way from Puyang. It took a lot of time and he was indeed very tired.

His main task was to occupy Yuanwu County before the arrival of the Han army, and to seize a bridgehead for the rebels in Sili, so as to intimidate the Han army, intimidate Luoyang, and suppress the Luoyang court in momentum.

So he hurried as fast as he could, not even daring to rest for too long, and finally arrived.

According to the news a day ago, no Han army arrived in Yuanwu County, and there was no sign of Han troops in the surrounding area, which made Jiang Yin relax a little.

Once they relaxed, the vanguard soldiers who came with him could no longer hold on and collapsed to the ground gasping for breath, with complaints rising one after another.

After a forced march, despite Liu He's generosity in distributing winter clothes, winter hats and winter boots, the original vanguard army of more than 4,000 people was reduced to just over 3,000.

Although he led more than 500 cavalrymen to hold the line and constantly captured and killed the fleeing and lagging soldiers, more than a thousand people still fled and died.

But this was to be expected, and it was not worth being too nervous about. Since ancient times, it was normal for soldiers to run away during a march. In an army with poor discipline, it was possible for one-third or even more soldiers to run away.

Otherwise, why would King Wu of Zhou sing and dance when he was attacking King Zhou?

However, Jiang Yin obviously realized that the soldiers had reached their limit. If he didn't let them rest, the soldiers would probably run away before they reached Luoyang, and he would be left alone.

In desperation, he decided to let his extremely tired subordinates take a break, eat something hot, and boost their morale.

So he arranged for the soldiers to simply build a temporary camp and then cook.

The water in the Yin River had frozen, but it didn't matter. He chiseled the ice to get water, put the dry biscuits he had carried along and the pickled meat specially distributed by Liu He into a big pot and stewed them into a pot of paste. He felt that this was the best thing to boost morale.

After a hot meal, all fatigue and dissatisfaction will be forgotten.

Soon, the firemen in the army who were in charge of cooking got to work. They dug a pit, buried the pot, started a fire, put the soldiers' rations, bread and pickled meat in the pot, poured a full pot of water, covered the pot and started stewing.

There is no cooking skill to speak of, nor any seasoning or operation techniques. It is just pure stewing, the simplest operation. However, the heat and aroma from the cooking still have a fatal attraction to these soldiers.

No one can refuse a bowl of steaming food on a winter morning in the biting cold wind, even if it is just a bowl of sticky and wet paste.

Therefore, everyone's mind was captivated by the food cooked in the big pot. From the commander Jiang Yin to every soldier, everyone's attention was focused on the food that had not yet been cooked.

No one even noticed that a cavalry unit was rapidly approaching their location.

Yuan Shu led the Han cavalry forward quickly. The intelligence obtained by the scouts allowed him to further understand that the rebels had not built a complete camp, but simply built a fence with firewood and other things.

Did they think that this symbolic fence could really stop the cavalry?

If this was not a strategy to lure the Han army into a trap, then it can only be said that this rebel army does not know how to fight at all.

How can we fight a war if we can’t even make the most basic military arrangements?

Is this the military quality of the people of Kanto?

No wonder Duan Xing always said that the people of Guandong were too weak to fight, and the Han-Qiang War ultimately depended on the blood and tears of the people of Liangzhou.

These guys who have lived in peace for a long time and have never experienced the bloody horror of the battlefield, wouldn't they think that fighting with weapons and slashing with knives on the streets is a battlefield?

But none of this matters. Yuan Shu only knows that he has made a contribution and should be rewarded.

As a vanguard general, defeating the enemy's vanguard is a great achievement. He must get the first credit of this expedition!

This will be his first achievement to make him famous and establish his authority in the army!
Even if they really had an ambush, it would not be difficult for the Han army to escape from the battlefield with its superior cavalry!

and so!
Keep going!

The Han cavalry roared and galloped, but Jiang Yin and his vanguard were still restrained by the hot food. The scouts were not sent out and just wandered around. Not many people were on guard and ready for battle. A few cavalry were even feeding the horses. The armor that they had finally received was taken off by many soldiers because it was in the way.

Even Jiang Yin himself took off his armor and wore only thick winter clothes while waiting for dinner.

Then, Yuan Shu and his cavalry came roaring. The scouts wandering around saw them and were frightened. They immediately ran back to the camp to inform Jiang Yin of the news.

However, it was too late. When Jiang Yin learned the news in horror, the figure of the first Han cavalry had already appeared in his field of vision.

broken!

Jiang Yin was so frightened that he no longer cared about the hot food that had not yet been cooked.

"The enemy is coming! The enemy is coming! Meet the enemy! Line up to meet the enemy! Meet the enemy!"

"Cavalry! Cavalry, meet the enemy! Meet the enemy!"

Jiang Yin screamed at the top of his lungs, and the soldiers who were drooling and preparing to eat were like people who were awakened from a beautiful dream. They were instantly terrified and their minds went blank.

They mechanically put on their armor and searched for their weapons following orders, but because they were so frightened and panicked, many of them could not put on their armor or helmets properly, or could not find their own weapons.

On one side, the cavalry were galloping, while on the other side, people were in a panic. The result of this encounter remained unchanged.

In a hurry, only a few soldiers who did not take off their armor or put on their armor in time formed an emergency formation under the leadership of the officers, ignoring their crooked attire and the panicked crowd. The messy formation looked powerless, just like the firewood fence they carelessly built.

Can such a group of people relying on such a straw fence really stop the attack of the Han cavalry?
(End of this chapter)