Tiger Guards

Chapter 228 Xu Huang's Delay
Inside Jingxingkou, at the north end of the road, is Baoduzhai.

This is a camp built on the top of a mountain. The terrain is so dangerous and solid that there is no need to build any walls.

The road up the mountain is very dangerous and rugged, but there is flat land on the top of the mountain that can be cultivated.

If one wants to replenish the oxen working the fields on the top of the mountain, they can only be carried up by people when they are calves.

The road was so dangerous that even the calf couldn't walk up it.

This place has become the forward position of Yuan's army. If you walk west along Jingxing Road, you will come to the main battlefield of the Battle of the River Delta.

This place is not very auspicious. Although it is surrounded by mountains and rivers and can block the road, Yuan's army still gave up garrisoning and retreated to Jingxingkou.

A barrier was built at the foot of Baoduzhai to serve as a warning.

When Zhang Nan, the captain of the frontier, was inspecting the war equipment in the camp, an official came to report: "Captain, the scouts have retreated."

"understood."

Zhang Nan responded, left the warehouse, and quickly climbed up the gate tower of Saizhang Pass. He saw more than 20 scouts gathered at the gate. The guards on both sides of the gate tower were aiming with bows and crossbows, not daring to be careless.

Zhang Nan looked around and saw that most of them were familiar faces, so he waved and said, "Open the door!"

He also went down the gate tower, and the scouts led their horses and entered on foot. They were all familiar with this place, and many of them were selected as guards from here.

After greeting the familiar guards and leading the horses into the stables, the scout officer followed Zhang Nan into the barracks, picked up a bowl of turbid sweet rice wine, and drank a bowl of it. Sweat immediately broke out on his face.

Raising his hand to casually wipe the sweat off his face, Zhang Nan poured him another bowl of wine. "How are Xu Huang's troops?"

"They are truly elite, worthy of the name of the Hedong Knights."

After drinking his second bowl, the officer sat down, took off his leather helmet and tossed it aside. "Xu Huang's scouts extend over a hundred miles, many of them elite cavalry from the frontier army, and their tactics are brutal. We've lost nearly half our men, and we're powerless to fight back, so we have to retreat."

As he spoke, he picked up his third bowl of turbid rice wine and gulped it down. Zhang Nan was shocked: "I thought you were just the front team... How much did you get?"

The team officer just looked at Zhang Nan in silence after hearing this. Zhang Nan knew he had said something wrong, so he asked, "How's Wei Shui?"

Weishui is the river where Han Xin fought the last battle. It runs from north to south and intersects with Jingxing Road. It is only about thirty or forty miles away from here.

"Lost. There's a sonic archer on the other side."

The officer said angrily, "Even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it. I guess even if I report it to them, their superiors won't believe it either!"

Zhang Nan remained silent. He didn't believe that the other side was so extravagant as to equip their scout team with sharpshooters. He just thought that this was an excuse for the other side to cover up their failure.

The officer added, "We both captured about the same amount, but the enemy was much more numerous, and I lost many horses when I withdrew."

"I understand."

Zhang Nan responded and bowed to express his gratitude. He understood the other party's jargon. The other party was being chased by Xu Huang's scouts and had escaped in a panic.

The so-called equitable gains meant that we went out and found some fresh heads of young and middle-aged mountain people, which was equal to the number of scouts lost, or perhaps even more.

Only gains that exceed losses can bring rewards to ordinary scouts and promote the leading military officers to higher ranks.

In other words, it was a warning to Zhang Nan not to be fooled and to stay here obediently.

When the situation turned out to be unsatisfactory, they lit the beacon towers and burned the barriers, and the entire army retreated to Baoduzhai.

After downing three bowls of rice wine, the officer relaxed and continued, "They've set up beacons on the west bank of Weishui River. Five of them are easily detectable, and there are more hidden behind them. Be careful not to provoke them. Their accents are not like those of people from Hedong or Taiyuan, and some of them are fluent in the Hu language."

The team officer also smiled bitterly. When they were fighting in close combat, the other side could understand what they were saying, but they deliberately communicated in the Xiongnu language, causing the Hebei scouts to suffer a lot.

Zhang Nan understood that the main force of the enemy's scouts were the descendants of the border troops from the four counties who had moved inland.

It is normal to suppress the Hebei scouts.

After resting for a while, the scout team officer led his men to change horses, left the barrier and headed straight for Zhending.

Xu Huang basically cleared out the Yuan army scouts in Jingxing Road, and the scouts sent out recruited hunters in the mountains.

Within five or six days, a hunting army of 500 people was organized and deployed in Shangai County within Jingxing Road, which was the westernmost county in Changshan State.

We don't expect this volunteer army to stop the Hebei troops, it will be enough if they can serve as a warning.

After finishing these things, Xu Huang began to lead his troops south.

When he led his troops across the Nieshui River, the vanguard scouts had already cut off the information flow between the counties in the Changzhi Basin after crossing more than a hundred miles.

His main force was the Hedong Knights, and the county soldiers assigned to him by Zhao Ji generally came from the north of the county. Although they were called county soldiers, everyone had a horse.

Therefore, during Xu Huang's march, with the assistance of prominent and powerful families in Tunliu, such as the Shentu clan, the Chen clan, the Tongdi Li clan, and the Xun clan, he easily blocked Gao Gan at Huguan. Huguan is a county town, and Hukouguan is a pass south of Huguan and Tunliu. It is the most critical pass in Fukouxing, blocking access to the Changzhi and Jincheng basins to the south.

The basins and valleys are fragmented, so a small force can strangle the enemy wherever they must pass.

When there are enough supplies, they can implement a tactic similar to the leapfrog tactic to cut off each other's retreat.

With the cooperation of the nobles and powerful people in Shangdang County, Gao Gan was trapped in Huguan County... If he stayed in the county, his safety would be guaranteed.

If they break out, the morale of the people will collapse, and Xu Huang's scouts may not have a turn to take action, and Gao Gan may be kidnapped by his men.

For Xu Huang, it seemed as if he could grab high-ranking officials in his hands with just a stretch of his hand.

But Xu Huang still advanced steadily, marching fifty miles a day, and always maintained excellent condition as he headed towards the Changzhi Basin.

These prominent men were also eager to make a contribution, so they reported the military situation to Wei Xing, who was building grain storage halls and camps in Nie County.

Wei Xing naturally wanted to compete with Xu Huang for credit, but he was very distressed. Zhao Ji assigned him 3,000 tiger infantrymen. Although they were equipped with horses and vehicles, they could not compete with Xu Huang in terms of absolute assault and raid capabilities.

I was afraid that the entire army would launch a surprise attack, but in the end I still couldn't defeat Xu Huang.

He brought the letter from the Tongdi Li family to discuss military affairs with the military commander Wei Ji: "Gao Gan is unpopular. Now he only controls the three cities of Huguan, Luxian, and Gaodu, as well as Hukou Pass and Tianjing Pass. The Tunliu righteous soldiers have already cut off Huguan and Hukou. I am worried that the Tunliu righteous soldiers, out of concern for their past friendship, will allow Gao Gan to escape to Hukou Pass."

Seeing Wei Xing's cautious and worried look, Wei Ji asked, "Zi'ang, do you intend to rush south to join the Tunliu righteous troops and besiege Gao Gan at Huguan?"

"If the high-ranking officials break through, the opportunity will be lost. It's a pity."

Wei Xing pursed his lips and added, "But I am mainly composed of infantry, I am afraid I cannot defeat Xu Huang."

"Then don't argue."

Wei Ji spoke calmly, "The Marquis of Zhao knew Zi'ang was impatient, so he sent him to lead the infantry. Furthermore, the grain reserves in Nie County are crucial to the success of the entire army. Zi'ang would have made contributions if he stayed here, so why would he risk the entire army's defeat just to achieve personal merit?"

Even though the Wei family had fallen, Wei Xing still respected them, so he nodded and said listlessly, "I understand. Then I'll give this honor to Xu Huang. It's a good deal for him."

"No, Ziang is wrong."

Wei Ji corrected him, saying, "Xu Gongming commands troops with composure, which is why the Marquis of Zhao gave him command of the elite cavalry. Even if we retain our heroes to capture Gao Gan, Xu Gongming will not gallop southwards. Instead, he will march thirty miles a day. The Shangdang heroes are ultimately disloyal to our army, so we must be on guard."

Wei Xing pursed his lips and fell silent, his gaze fixed on the nearby wall being built. "Perhaps Mr. Bo Ju is right. Xu Huang is calm and composed, and he won't take any risks."

"Well, if Zi'ang has any suspicions, he can send a letter to Qi County explaining the matter. Perhaps before Qi County responds, Xu Gongming's messenger will come here to warn our army to be on high alert."

Although Xu Huang's actions would offend Wei Xing, Wei Ji felt that at this moment, Xu Huang would not care about such a small detail.

Now that we have officially entered into a decisive battle with Yuan and Cao, any negligence or failure in the early stages will have immeasurable consequences.

People like Xu Huang have relatively strong principles, and these principles are to win and survive.

The purpose of winning is to survive.

When the two conflict, Xu Huang will tend to the latter.

Therefore, as Wei Ji expected, Xu Huang really slowed down his march.

What Wei Ji did not expect was that Xu Huang did not inform or warn Wei Xing, but only sent scouts to cut off the transportation channels inside and outside Tongdi.

Soon, only Xu Huang's scouts were left in the entire Changzhi Basin.

Anyone encountered on the road will either be captured and detained by Xu Huang's scouts, or those who dare to resist will be reduced to military merit!

Beheading is a military merit, and interrogating intelligence is also a military merit.

Captured prisoners were equivalent to military merit; after being demoted to slaves, they were given priority to their captors.

In principle, Zhao Ji did not encourage beheading.

There are so many trivial things to do when the army is marching and setting up camp every night.

It is also a tradition to capture coolies and prisoners to do odd jobs during marches.

Before encountering and detecting a large number of Yuan troops, Xu Huang would not be able to cause any significant killing.

Even if it was discovered that the main force of Yuan's army was reinforcing Shangdang, they would only send the humanoid military forces with hidden dangers to the rear.

Beheading in battle and killing prisoners... these are obviously two different things.

(End of this chapter)