Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

Gaolang County is located between the Qiushui River and the Lishi River, with rivers on both sides, but the terrain in the middle is flat and open. Looking around, there are fertile fields for dozens of miles on both sides of the official road. However, due to the war, no one has cultivated the fields this spring, and wild grass has begun to grow on them. From a distance, it looks like entering a vast grassland.

"General, the terrain a hundred miles to the north of here is so vast. How can we stop the Xiongnu cavalry with just a few of us?" Zhang Xing, Zhang Liao's deputy general and family general, said with a worried look on his face.

Zhang Liao gazed at the blurry Gaolang County to the south and ordered, "Set up camp first and guard the official road. The Xiongnu cavalry can enter and exit freely from other places, but the carts transporting grain and fodder can only take this flat road. The Xiongnu will not allow us to harass their grain route here and will definitely send troops to fight."

Zhang Xing said, "Even so, it's useless for us to drive the Hu people back to the city. They have just plundered Lishi and other counties, and they have sufficient food and grass in the short term. How long can we hold on?"

"The Xiongnu have tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, and their daily food consumption is enormous. Moreover, they entered Xihe County this spring, which is approaching the lean season, and the people have little food left. If the food supply is cut off, these tens of thousands of soldiers and horses will not last more than a month."

At this point, Zhang Liao's handsome young face smiled. "Besides, what I want this time is not the grain route, but Gaolang County."

Even if the Huns could hold out for a month, they could not stay here for so long. The roads in Luliang Mountain were difficult to travel, and the food and grass transferred from Taiyuan County were limited. If they could not defeat the Huns within half a month, they would have to send people back to Taiyuan County to transfer food. This would affect more than just the spring plowing in Xihe County.

"Take Gaolang?" Zhang Xing was slightly surprised. "We can't do it with so few people!"

It would be best if we could take it. No matter whether the Huns go to Linxian or Lishi, they must pass through Gaolang. Defending Gaolang is like strangling their throat. However, there are thousands of soldiers and horses stationed in this city, so it is not easy to take it.

Although Zhang Liao originally came with the purpose of capturing the city, he only had a rough plan before and had no confidence in whether he could capture it. He did not say it for the time being, but now after the actual inspection, he already had an idea in his mind.

Zhang Liao gave Zhang Xing a few instructions, and the troops set up camp on the road, waiting for the Hu people to attack them.

However, before they could set up camp, the Xiongnu cavalry arrived, and Zhang Liao hurriedly ordered the infantry to form a battle formation on the road.

The Huns knew that the terrain here was open and the infantry could not do anything to the cavalry, and Zhang Liao only brought a thousand cavalry, so they sent out three thousand people this time, preparing to defeat Zhang Liao's cavalry first.

Three thousand war horses came galloping in the billowing dust. The leading general saw the infantry formation arranged on the road, waved his flag, and the front team turned around. The whole team went around the vast fields next to them and charged towards the cavalry behind.

With one thousand against three thousand, Zhang Liao was not worried at all that his side would suffer losses. When Zhang Yi led them before, the Huns suddenly attacked, and Zhang Yi himself was not capable enough, so there were mistakes in the tactical arrangements, and the deployment of troops was also chaotic and disorganized, which was why the Bingzhou army was defeated repeatedly. But this does not mean that the Bingzhou cavalry is not capable of fighting.

The Huns had won many battles before and had been unstoppable all the way, so they inevitably underestimated the combat effectiveness of the Bingzhou army. They dared to challenge Zhang Liao's 1,000 elite cavalry with only 3,000 people. The result can be imagined.

However, Zhang Liao had learned the lesson of Zhang Mo in Wangfeng Valley, and was afraid that if he killed too many people, they would be scared and hide in the city and dare not come out. So this time he did not open fire at full force, but fought gently with the Huns, making them feel that the Bingzhou cavalry was capable, but not to the point of being terrifying.

The two sides fought for a long time. After the Huns suffered more than 400 casualties, they saw that it was getting late, so they retreated while fighting and temporarily retreated to Gaolang City.

Zhang Xing was puzzled, "Why don't you chase them? If we chase them, they won't dare to open the city gates, and then we can wipe out all these cavalrymen today."

Zhang Liao sheathed his silver halberd and, gazing at the retreating Xiongnu cavalry, explained, "If I had intended to kill them all, why would I have ordered my soldiers to restrain themselves today? There are only three thousand of them. Even if we kill them all, there are still two thousand defenders in the city. We won't be able to take Gaolang City."

Moreover, the Huns were not stupid. Since they dared to go out of the city to kill the enemy, how could they let the enemy soldiers chase them to the city? Even if they did, the archers on the city walls would not let anyone get close.

Seeing Zhang Liao's confident look, Zhang Xing excitedly asked, "Master, have you come up with an idea?"

Zhang Liao nodded. "Tomorrow, or at the latest the day after tomorrow, Gaolang will be back in Han hands."

"So fast? What's your idea? Tell me about it!" Zhang Xing asked curiously.

In his opinion, using 3,000 infantrymen to attack a city without any siege equipment would be harder than climbing to the sky.

Zhang Liao smiled and said, "You'll know soon."

…………

At the same time, in Gaolang City.

"How is it? Can we defeat that group of people?" Gaolang's general Sibitu asked expectantly when he saw that his own soldiers did not suffer too many casualties.

Atuye, the general who led the troops out of the city today, wiped the sweat from his face and shook his head. "This army is quite powerful, and the young general leading them is even more skilled in martial arts. We fought hard for a long time, but only killed a few dozen of their cavalry. If we want to defeat them, three thousand soldiers are not enough!"

Sibitu's smile froze. "Then how many men do you need to repel the enemy?"

Atuye said, "If there are 4,000 of them, I will have an 80% chance of defeating them."

Sibitu looked troubled. "Gaolang only has 5,000 men. You lost over 400 today. If I send 4,000 out, there will only be 500 defenders left in the city. If the enemy attacks, how can I hold on?"

Atuye said, "The Han army only has so many soldiers. The main force is being held in Lishi County by King Xiutu. How can they have extra troops to attack the city? Gaolang only has two gates, the north and south, with 250 soldiers guarding each. The enemy cannot capture it without thousands of people. If you are really worried, send a few more scouts to Lishi tomorrow to check. If there is an enemy, light the beacon fire and I will be back immediately."

Sibitu thought about it and it made sense. The northern entrance was not far from here. If he lit the beacon, Atuye would be back in less than an hour. By then, the attackers would be attacked from both inside and outside and would be in trouble.

He immediately made the decision, "Okay, tomorrow you will lead 4,000 men to defeat those Han soldiers."

The next morning, the 4,000 Xiongnu troops, well fed and well watered, charged towards the north road again. After only half an hour, they saw Zhang Liao's troops. Atuye asked curiously, "Why are the Han troops moving their camp forward?"

A soldier said, "Isn't this better? We're closer to the city. If the enemy attacks, we can get back faster."

Atuye nodded, "That makes sense!"

Just like yesterday, the Xiongnu cavalry bypassed the infantry formation and charged directly towards the Bingzhou cavalry behind them. Zhang Liao still fought lukewarmly, but during the fight he intentionally led the Xiongnu cavalry in the opposite direction of Gaolang.

Cavalry could quickly move several miles from their original position. Atuye, feeling confident that he could crush this group of officers and soldiers today, was so enthralled that he barely noticed the battlefield shifting, his troops slowly being drawn away from the infantry formation. Even if he had noticed, he wouldn't have paid much attention, as the Xiongnu had the upper hand and their numbers were so great that he didn't need to worry about being held back.

The infantry that had been deployed on the road, led by Zhang Xing, kept moving towards Gaolang. When the fighting cavalry formation became almost invisible, three thousand people ran wildly and headed straight for the north gate of Gaolang.

Sibitu had been guarding the top of Gaolang City since Atuye led his troops out. He saw Zhang Xing and others as soon as they came into his sight. He originally thought that there would be other Han troops coming to attack the city, but he didn't expect it to be the group from Gaolang North Road.

That group of people had no siege equipment, and it was impossible for 3,000 people to capture the city, but he still ordered people to light the beacon fire.

When the Han army approached, they saw that the other side had only carried two logs, and in some places the branches were not even chopped cleanly, which showed that they were obviously cut down in a hurry.

The enemy had no ladders to climb the wall, so Sibitu ordered all the archers scattered on the nearby walls to gather at the city gate.

Five hundred people rained arrows down at the city, and the Han army could not get close to the city gate at all. I don’t know where this group of people got the confidence to dare to come down the city naked.