The Three Kingdoms

……

Liu Bao, who led his troops back to Dingyang City, did exactly what Zhang Xiu said, and began to summon the generals of the Xiongnu from all tribes, and began to consider the withdrawal of the army.

"Lord Zuo Wang, why are we withdrawing!"

"A mere Central Plains man, how could he be our opponent!"

"Give me ten thousand warriors, and I'll kill them all!"

The generals of the Huns said with enthusiasm.

"We are not withdrawing our troops, but changing a battlefield!"

Liu Bao said in a deep voice: "The grassland is what we are best at facing the battlefield. You have also seen today's battle. Facing a mere [-] Wu troops, we can only restrain our hands. The main force of the Wu army is about to go north. We have to return. Only the grassland can guarantee the odds of winning!"

He is not afraid of Zhang Xiu's mere soldiers.

Putting this amount of soldiers and horses in front of him, he could swallow it in one gulp.

But today's battle gave him a blow to the head.

This is the Central Plains. The terrain of the Central Plains is complicated. The deeper it is, the more unfavorable it is for the Xiongnu army to fight. The Xiongnu army going south is all cavalry, and the cavalry has many disadvantages. When encountering mountains and rivers, it is beyond reach.

He doesn't mind fighting Wu Jun's main force, and he doesn't think he will be inferior to Wu Jun's main force.

But he needs to change the battlefield.

A battlefield where the cavalry's maximum combat effectiveness can be exerted, only a wide and unimpeded battlefield can allow him to rampage unscrupulously with hundreds of thousands of cavalry, and can give him the best chance of winning.

"Then where do we withdraw our troops?"

All the generals of the Xiongnu also nodded in agreement when they heard the words.

Facing the map, Liu Bao fell into deep thought: "Where should we evacuate now?"

He didn't want to return to Shuofang because he was worried that returning to Shuofang would not be suitable for Huchuquan.

Now that he has plundered so much food and population, he can re-establish a brand new Hun tribe, and there is no need to follow Huchuquan's orders.

If you don't go back to Shuofang, you can only go west.

Beidi or the grasslands in the north of Liangzhou are good places. Although there are some Hu and barbarians grazing there, the scale is not large. It should be possible to seize a piece of grassland for cultivation and rest as a tribal resident.

……

As night falls, the faint moonlight shines on the land of Beizhou.

"Report!"

"Say!"

"Report to the commander, the Xiongnu army left the city overnight!"

"Leaving the city overnight?"

Zhang Xiu's eyes widened: "In which direction, how many soldiers and horses?"

"West side!" The scout said, "The number of soldiers and horses is ominous. They are escorting countless civilians, and there are also many carriages loaded with food. The team looks like a long dragon, stretching for at least dozens of miles!"

"Commander, it seems that what you expected is right, they want to withdraw!" Xia Houheng sneered: "If you want to run after a battle, there is no such simple thing!"

"Go and see!"

Zhang Xiu got on his horse and rode out. Xia Houheng and the generals followed and headed north.

Half an hour later, on a hillside, their horses' heads stood side by side, looking down at the winding road.

"Can we fight a war?" Xia Houheng asked: "They are escorting so many people and so much food and grass, there must be a gap, maybe it is also an opportunity for us!"

The barracks of the Xiongnu army were very long, with [-] cavalry plus [-] to [-] Wu people, and countless grains, forming a long dragon.

For Wu Jun, this may not be an opportunity.

"no!"

A cavalry general carefully watched the formation of the Huns marching, and said: "Chief of Staff, the Huns are not scattered soldiers. They are deploying at least [-] cavalry on the left and right flanks. The speed is a bit slow, but we can't fight at all. Don't go in!"

"Pass my military order, and the whole army will follow!"

Zhang Xiu suppressed the urge to go down and fight for a fight. After all, there were too few troops, so he couldn't get in if he had the chance, so he could only hang on to the main force.

He said in a deep voice: "Leave the soldiers of the military guard battalion to guard the wounded soldiers, and the rest of the army will follow me to pursue them. They are cavalrymen who are fifty miles away from the Huns. We can't get too close, too close." Let them chase them out without even a chance to run. In the current situation, we can hardly match their [-] lions. If there is no chance, we will wait. If there is a chance, we will fight. Also, quickly report the situation here to the army headquarters!"

"promise!"

The generals took the lead.

……

Zhang Xiu personally led the Eighth Army, and followed closely behind the Xiongnu army. The Xiongnu army has been advancing northwestward, walking very slowly, and it took a day and a night to enter the position of Gaonu City.

Gaonu City, which is around the location of Yan'an in later generations.

It used to belong to Shangjun of Bingzhou, but now it is just a border town in Beizhou. It is relatively desolate. The people have been plundered, the food has been confiscated, and the whole city is empty.

The Xiongnu army marched for a day and a night. In the evening of the next day, they gave up the night march and camped directly in Gaonu City for a night of recuperation.

The Eighth Army, which followed behind, also set up camp fifty miles away from Gaonu City, staring at them.

In the evening, the Eighth Army camp.

"Whether we were Wei people or Wu people in the past, we are all Central Plains people now. We can't do anything to watch them, these grassland barbarians plunder our people, and lay dead bodies all over the field. This is not only the shame of Great Wu, It is also a disgrace to our Central Plains!"

Zhang Xiu smashed his fist on a stone, smashing the stone to pieces.

After following for a day and a night, what he felt the most was that the corpses left by the Huns on the ground one after another. These were the corpses of the looted people. People can be found everywhere.

This made Zhang Xiu stunned.

He even wants to attack at all costs, even if he is defeated, he is willing to fight, instead of doing some powerless ** here now.

But he is a master after all.

He needs to be calm, even in extreme anger, he needs to be calm.

"Commander, No. 16 Army Commander Shamoke sent a message. They have been on the road all day and night, and they have caught up with us. They are just behind us, and they are less than ten miles away from us!" Xia Houheng received a letter, and his expression changed. Get excited.

"No. 16 Army, the ace fighting army of the War Elephant Legion, is said to have the strongest combat power of the concentrated War Elephant Legion. In this way, we will try to delay the march of the Huns, and buy time for the main force as soon as possible!"