My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 385 Extending the Front
Including the 'guides' who were familiar with the local terrain, there were about twenty people heading north.

Gao Yu's first task was to investigate the Hutuo River.

The terrain surrounding Hejian County is typical of Hebei, consisting of a vast plain.

Gao Yu was also unsure of Liu Taozhi's situation. He had to consider everything. If Hou Yuan was determined to cower in the city like a turtle, he would consider using water to attack the city. Whether or not a water attack was feasible depended on the actual terrain and whether the heavens would cooperate.

After conducting an actual investigation.

Gao Yu then decisively abandoned the idea of ​​using water to attack.

Zhao Dujun City and Wuyuan had both been reinforced by Emperor Taiwu Tuoba Tao, and were located on higher ground, not in low-lying areas.

Standing beside the Hutuo River, the river's flow is not very large.

"General, if you go north along the river, there is a small city called Xiaoling. The army's provisions were previously stored here."

A captured soldier who had previously escorted grain supplies pointed to the river and said.

"Xiaoling City is located northwest of Zhao Dujun City, on the east side of the Hutuo River, and not far from Zhao Wudu City."

Gao Yu squatted on the ground and, following the prisoner's instructions, picked up a stick and simply marked the location on the ground.

The Hutuo River, located in Hejian County, Zhaodujun City, is like the Yellow River at Fenglingdu. Originally flowing from west to east, the Hutuo River makes a 90-degree turn here and then flows north, before turning again and flowing into the Bohai Sea at Tianjin.

This was the waterway that Hou Yuan relied on most. After the grain and supplies were unloaded, Xiaoling City became a transit point.

Gao Yu stood up and looked north, then simply patted the dirt off his hands.

"I'll have to go and check it out myself."

"General, your status is too high. If we go any further..."

"No problem."

Gao Yu waved his hand, saying that the greater the risk, the greater the reward.

Besides, it would be almost impossible for a small number of scouts to keep him here, since it wasn't a large army that came to besiege him.

Given the efficiency of information transmission in ancient times, unless one was unlucky enough to run into an enemy encirclement or directly collide with a large enemy army, it was extremely difficult to transmit information.

The soldiers of the Xuanjia Army were already used to it, especially Mulan, Peng Le and others, who had followed Gao Yu in battle for many years and knew his fighting style very well.

Before the battle, a large number of scouts and reconnaissance cavalry would be dispatched to gather information and survey the terrain. Gao Yu himself would also personally serve as a scout. It would be easy to misunderstand through other people's retellings, and only by seeing it with his own eyes could he feel at ease.

"People only know that the general leads the Xuanjia Army and is invincible in battle, but few know how much preparation the general does before battle."

Gao Bin and Wang Sizheng also followed Gao Yu out. Seeing that he was already in a high position, yet still went out to investigate so meticulously before the war, they couldn't help but sigh.

"Throughout history, haven't all those famous generals who made outstanding military achievements been like this?"

Gao Yu chuckled, "Just like football, onlookers often only see the brilliance of the goal, but easily overlook the various combinations before the goal."

Many principles are actually the same.

When Gao Yu lectured a large number of mid- to low-ranking officers at the military academy, he would use his own experiences as examples.

War is indeed an empirical science.

Unless one is exceptionally gifted, very few people are born knowing how to fight; most acquire skills through continuous experience.

With more battles and situations encountered, one naturally becomes more adept at handling them.

The military academy essentially crammed all the details of the battles between the two armies into the middle and lower-ranking officers in a rote manner, so that they could just memorize them.

Those with talent will naturally be able to integrate and apply their knowledge according to the situation.

Even those without talent can guarantee a very high minimum standard through rote memorization.

"We still need to be careful. Hou Yuan has been managing Yingzhou for many years. He is more familiar with the terrain here than we are. We must spend more effort surveying the terrain. If we are not familiar with the local transportation, geography, customs, products and climate when we march and fight, we are not worthy of being generals."

Those who could follow Gao Yu were either already generals capable of commanding troops.

Or he's a reserve officer.

Being able to join the Xuanjia Army and follow Gao Yu is like getting on the fast track to success. After making contributions, you can be sent out to work as a captain in the Zhechong Prefecture.

Gao Yu was naturally generous and taught him everything he could.

"Go back to camp first."

Judging by the time, Liu Taozhi should be sending a message soon.

They also needed to survey the terrain and understand Hou Yuan's true intentions: whether he would take the initiative to attack or cower in the city like a turtle.

He was also waiting for news from Xiangzhou, but he didn't know anything about the situation there.

What is the status of the battle between Gao Huan and Erzhu Rong?

We need to obtain more intelligence to facilitate our next steps in planning.

"Kill!"

With his spear held high and his voice booming like thunder, Gao Yang charged ahead on horseback, leading the charge and taking the lead in the battle.

The cavalrymen following behind him drew their bows and fired a volley of arrows forward.

A few unlucky ones were hit by stray arrows and fell to the ground screaming in agony. Most of them used the grain carts to avoid the rain of arrows, but the overall formation was in complete disarray.

The primary purpose of the volley of arrows was to create chaos, buy time for the cavalry to charge and close the distance, and delay the enemy's formation and counterattack.

A small number of the grain transport soldiers put up a brave resistance, but most of the laborers were already running around like headless flies.

A solid, muffled thud.

With his lance held high, Gao pierced through the soldier who tried to stop him. With extraordinary strength, he raised his hand holding the lance as if showing off, and the soldier was immediately lifted up and flung away!

"Hahaha, my men! Follow me and slay these damned barbarian dogs!"

His triumphant laughter was so loud and arrogant. His bravery was like a dimensional reduction attack against these ordinary soldiers. No one could fight him.

Behind him, his deputy general Zhang Mao kept shouting, "Burn all the grain and fodder!"

They weren't there to steal supplies, but rather to obstruct Erzhu Rong's logistics as much as possible.

The fire gradually grew.

Just now.

Rumble!
A series of rapid hoofbeats came from afar, raising clouds of sand and making it impossible to tell how many people and horses were approaching.

Despite their high spirits, they showed no fear and were even eager to try and launch a counterattack!
"My lads!!"

"General!"

Zhang Mao quickly grabbed him, "General, our troops are few in number and the situation is unclear. We should not stay here any longer."

Gao glared at him with dissatisfaction, and finally gritted his teeth angrily, "Withdraw!"

He immediately tightened the reins and turned his horse around. The others quickly followed suit, turning their horses around and fleeing north.

After a while.

It took about five hundred cavalrymen to reach the grain carts, which had been mostly burned.

The military flag fluttering in the wind bears the two large characters 'Heba'.

Hebasheng looked at Gao Ang and the others who had already gone far away, angrily cracked his whip, pointed in the direction the enemy army had fled, and shouted angrily.

"Damn it! Next time! Next time I'll definitely capture you alive!"

The fire was unstoppable, and they could only watch helplessly as their precious food was destroyed.

the other side.

After creating some distance, Gao Ang led his soldiers northward to Guangping County.

Guangping County was located northeast of Ye City.

That's right.

The capital of Xiangzhou, Yecheng, has been lost.

However, rather than saying it was lost, it would be more accurate to say that Gao Huan voluntarily relinquished Ye City.

Ye City is located beside the Zhang River. After capturing Ye City, Erzhu Rong can use the Zhang River to alleviate logistical pressure. Moreover, the Zhang River flows north and turns east into Ji Province within Yin Province.

For Erzhu Rong.

As long as we can fight our way north along the Zhang River.

If Gao Huan were to retreat to Dingzhou, then he would have many more options.

We can continue north and relentlessly pursue Gao Huan.

Alternatively, they could turn east to Yingzhou and coordinate with Hou Yuan to launch a pincer attack!
Gao Huan retreated his army to Guangping County, and was even preparing to retreat further...

His goal was also very clear.

Extending Erzhu Rong's supply line, the flat terrain of Hebei Province is conducive to the high mobility of cavalry.

His plan was to buy time by constantly harassing Erzhu Rong's supply lines.

(End of this chapter)