As soon as the autumn equinox passed, the battle situation outside Liangzhou Pass suddenly became tense.
Previously, the scouts from both sides of Liang Mang were roaming about outside the pass, their forces were more or less equal. Although Beimang's Ma Lanzi had the advantage in numbers, due to the battle on the Longyan Plains, the two elite scouts who were most familiar with the border army's terrain and had the most outstanding fighting power, Dong Zhuo's Crow Lanzi and Great General Liu Gui's Black Fox Lanzi, were almost completely wiped out. The Ma Lanzi who followed the army to the south of Hutou City could not be said to be a headless fly, but compared to Liangzhou's second class scouts, who were incomparably familiar with the terrain, they still did not have an advantage. Whenever the two sides encountered a sudden battle, Beimang's Ma Lanzi was ordered to take the initiative to attack regardless of casualties. Many times they met on narrow roads, even though Beimang's Ma Lanzi was at a disadvantage in terms of military strength in some parts of the battlefield, they still charged bravely without fear of death, even if they had to sacrifice three for one. The rich and overbearing Murong Baoding personally promised that as long as the Ma Lanzi advanced to the front line, regardless of whether it was his direct subordinates or other troops, not only would they be able to obtain military merit by beheading the enemy, they would also be able to exchange their own losses for military merit!
Under this kind of unreasonable and intense attack by Beimang, Beiliang's scouts never suffered heavy casualties in a single battle. However, after the losses accumulated time and time again, in a short period of twenty days, according to the intelligence reports from the Left and Right Cavalry, more than seven hundred men had died in battle!
The Liangzhou Border Army had no choice but to start gathering small groups of scouts, at the same time reducing the width and depth of the scouting line, decisively giving up on the risky move of sending a small group of scouts to roam in and out of the enemy's territory. Back then, Beiliang had chosen to place great importance on the Liuzhou battlefield and did not hesitate to shift their forces to the west. For example, Li Hanlin's White Horse Crossbowmen had all moved into Liuzhou. Not to mention the control Beiliang City had over the border defense line of Huaiyang Pass, Liu Ya, Fuling, and Grave, the connection with the Left and Right Cavalry was growing thinner and thinner. This was definitely not a good sign. As the main force of the Beiliang Border Army, the Left and Right Cavalry's main purpose was not to kill the enemy, but to link up Beiliang City and Huaiyang Pass' defense line, preventing Beimang's cavalry from completely dividing the battlefield outside Liangzhou Pass. However, from the current situation, unless Murong Baoding was willing to hold his troops back, unwilling to lose the Winter Thunder Elite Cavalry and Rouran Cavalry, slowing down the speed of his horse hooves and allowing the Liangzhou scouts to seize the opportunity to regain the initiative, from the perspective of the chessboard, the stalemate between the two sides was already set in stone. During this period of time, the Northern Liang Dao's only official in the northern part of the city, the Administrator Li Gongde, proposed to have Li Hanlin lead the remaining Liuzhou white horse crossbowmen back to the battlefield outside Liangzhou Pass. However, this proposal was rejected by both the young King and Deputy Jiedushi Yang Shenxing.
The result of the magnificent cavalry battle at Old Woman Mountain in Liuzhou, which was destined to go down in history, had not yet been accurately reported to Joubei City outside the Liangzhou Pass. The last urgent military document from a scout under Liangzhou's general Shi Fu was still neatly placed on the table in the small study next to the signing room. Even though they knew that the new Prince of Liang, who had accumulated great power and influence, valued the Twin Jade Annulus of Great Chu, no less than the two trusted generals, Yu Luan Dao and Cao Wei, who were born in Northern Liang, the military document written by Shi Fu himself was still straightforward, revealing the unique cruelty of a battlefield. "Thank you to the monk soldiers of the Western Frontier Division for blocking the fifty thousand cavalry with fifteen thousand infantrymen. Forgive me for not being able to rescue them. I will only follow the established plan to block the remaining Southern Dynasty's cavalry from going south. Joining forces with Ning Emei's four thousand Iron Stupas, we will definitely block the Yellow Song's Pu Tribe's main force from retreating north. Whether Beiliang's monk soldiers and Lantuo Mountain's monk soldiers live or die, my Qingyuan Army can't help. "
In fact, the true ruthlessness of the battlefield lay in Shi Fu's words. "Even if my Stone Talisman Army can rush to the corridor battlefield in time, as long as Beiliang's infantrymen still have the strength to block the Southern Dynasty's main force, then the Qingyuan Army's cavalry will stop far away and choose not to rescue them." This was to prevent the Southern Dynasty's main force from giving up on rescuing Old Woman Mountain and decisively fleeing north, returning to the Southern Dynasty's main force.
The young King did not summon the generals to discuss this matter in the Conference Hall. He did not even instruct the Stone Talisman to send it directly to the study room to browse and circulate. That evening, Hsu Fengnian sat quietly in the study room for a while and then wrote a letter to Liangzhou's General Shi Fu. The content of the letter was concise and comprehensive. It roughly talked about the follow-up of the corridor battlefield. Shi Fu, since you are a general of a province, you should act according to your discretion. There is no need to report everything to Beiliang City. When the young King finally stamped the "King of Beiliang" official seal on the large blank space of the letter, the Counselor in green took the letter and hurriedly left. The young King sat alone in the study room and was silent for a long time.
The night was as cold as water. The mansion in Beiliang City was still brightly lit. The sound of footsteps was like a drum, incessant. They were already used to it.
Xu Fengnian was in his study, staring at two maps of the situation on the table with Crone Mountain and Huaiyang Pass as the main focus. He suddenly raised his head and saw Yang Shenxing, Great Ancestor Gu, and Bai Yu walking over together. His expression was extremely solemn. Great Ancestor Gu said with a hoarse voice, "We've just received news that Murong Baoding personally led the Winter Thunder Elite Cavalry and the Rouran Cavalry, each with a force of twenty thousand. Together with the thirty thousand reinforcements from Wang Yong, the Abbot of Aquarius State, they attacked Lu Dayuan's Left Cavalry of twenty-four thousand. Zhou Kang and Li Yanchao couldn't rescue them in time!
Yang Shenxing said bitterly, "From the looks of it, the ten thousand Rouran Cavalry that fought with Li Yanchao of the Right Cavalry was just a bait. The remaining twenty thousand Rouran Cavalry had already joined up with Murong Baoding's direct troops and were heading straight for the Left Cavalry. The so-called splitting of the troops into two directions, with the thirty thousand Rouran Cavalry attacking the Right Cavalry of Liang Province, and Murong Baoding staying in the twenty thousand infantry camp without moving, was all a pretense. In fact, the twenty thousand infantry were pretending to be the Rouran Cavalry, and in the end, they joined forces with Wang Yong to attack the Left Cavalry. "
Hsu Fengnian's face turned slightly pale. He muttered softly, "Twenty thousand Winter Thunder Elite Cavalry, twenty thousand Rouran Cavalry, and thirty thousand Aquarius Elite Cavalry, a total of seventy thousand Beimang First Class Cavalry."
Yang Shenxing was about to speak when Bai Yu tugged at the sleeve of this veteran general, signalling him not to speak for the time being.
The young vassal king who was sitting upright behind the desk slowly raised his head and asked, "How are the casualties of the Beimang barbarians?"
Yang Shenxing tried his best to calm the intense emotions in his heart as he answered, "Murong Baoding did not send in all his troops at once. After the Winter Thunder Private Cavalry lost nine thousand men, he still did not retreat from the battlefield. Then, he sent in twenty thousand Rouran Cavalry. Lu Dayuan … the Left Cavalry fought until Wang Yong's cavalry entered the battlefield. At that time, the remaining Winter Thunder Cavalry had no choice but to watch from the sidelines. There were almost no Rouran Cavalry left on the battlefield. The Aquarius Cavalry still lost six thousand men. Only eight hundred Left Cavalry managed to break out of the encirclement and returned to North Jiebei City. The First Deputy Commander of the Left Cavalry, Lu Dayuan, and the other two Deputy Commanders all died in battle. "
In early autumn, there was once a Left Cavalry soldier who raised his arms to release eagles outside North Jiebei City. The scene was still vivid in his mind.
Grand Ancestor Gu suddenly said bluntly, "Since the Left Cavalry is gone, the Right Cavalry cannot hold the fort alone. They can no longer control the situation outside Liang Province Pass, which is north of North Jiebei City and south of the grave. Your Highness, you must not agree to Zhou Kang and Li Yanchao's request for battle! "
Hsu Fengnian nodded and said, "Immediately send an order to Zhou Kang and Li Yanchao. The Right Cavalry must do their best to avoid Beimang's main force heading south!"
Bai Yu said somewhat helplessly, "That Jin Partridge's military order has actually reached Jiedushi Yang's barracks. From the commander to the three Deputy Commanders and all the captains, they have all signed a bloody handprint. They request to fight to the death and guarantee that they will at least wipe out Murong Baoding's Winter Thunder Cavalry and Wang Yong's main force."
Hsu Fengnian stood up and said sternly, "Then add one more sentence. Tell Zhou Kang and Li Yanchao clearly that it is very easy for them to die. If they dare to disobey the orders of North Jiebei City, I, Hsu Fengnian, will personally go outside the pass and wring their heads!"
Yang Shen, who had never seen a young King get angry in front of his face, was shocked. Grand Ancestor Gu sighed softly. Bai Yu was calm and composed. He smiled and said, "With North Jiebei City's reply to the Right Cavalry, Old General Yang and I, the Governor of Liang Province, will have an easier time."
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