Ball Ball Cultivation

"However, the Tatar army followed closely behind. The Han army fought with all their might and killed nearly 50,000 elite Tatars before they could catch their breath."

At this point, Li Wei's voice choked a little: "We were starving to the limit. In order to survive, we had begun to eat raw Tatar flesh. We didn't expect them to be so cunning and actually sprinkled vulture-attracting powder on the corpses.

How could the exhausted Han army snatch food from the mouths of vultures in the sky? They had no choice but to give up the Tatar corpse.

Our last retreat was also blocked, and the general led us to fight and retreat, and finally arrived at Yangcheng.

We all thought we had seen a way out, but unexpectedly, Yangcheng had already become a deserted city, without a single grain of food left. It would have been fine if we had gone to Shu Lake to drink some water, but the lake was covered with thick kerosene.

We hadn't rested for three days, so we moved away from the lake and found an open place to rest. Unexpectedly, the Tatars launched a fire attack in the middle of the night, and even the open space was on fire.

Where could the Tatars have so much kerosene? Every inch of the ground in Yangcheng was soaked with nearly three feet of kerosene. As long as a rocket fell into Yangcheng, it would be engulfed in flames in an instant.

No matter how well the general arranges his troops, he cannot resist the

The devil's calculation.

At the last moment, the elite troops led by the general had reached the city gate and saw hope of survival. As long as they escaped from the sea of ​​fire in Yangcheng, at least half of the troops could escape.

But Wang Quan, the spy beside the general, took the opportunity to deliver a fatal blow to the general's heart. It was Wang Quan's entourage that blocked the army's last chance to escape."

Han Shu's eyes sparkled with tears. "The Han army that finally escaped the fire and returned here numbered no more than 10,000. As for the other stragglers, I didn't send anyone to look for them. I simply issued a notice. I won't hold them responsible for desertion, and they'll retain their military positions after returning to the army."

After all, Yangcheng has four gates, so it is impossible that no soldiers could escape. This also leaves a way out for the Han family army in Hancheng and those officers who want to achieve success and fame.

Han Shu not only handed over the main force of the Han family army to Gu Zhao, but also gave half of his own tiger talisman to Gu Zhao.

These generals were carefully selected by Han Shu. They all wanted to stand out and make achievements on the battlefield.

During the military review, Gu Zhao looked at the roster in his hand and saw that nearly half of them were military officers. Centurions were just grassroots soldiers, and less than half of them had no official position.

The deputy general beside him explained: "After a series of fierce battles, with insufficient food and fodder, most of the lower-level soldiers starved to death, and some of those with weaker fighting ability were sacrificed. These are the ones left.

"Your Highness, Prince An, rest assured. Although we only have 50,000 elite troops, as long as they are well fed and watered, we can fight ten of them at once. There are still 30,000 remaining Tatar troops in the capital, and we can capture them easily."

Gu Zhao said sincerely, "I believe you."

But in his heart, he thought, even with such a skinny body, he could still fight ten people alone! It was not easy to get enough food. 80% of the food in the Yong Dynasty was controlled by the aristocratic families. The whole of Yong was suffering from drought, and the food shortage was particularly severe this year. Many ordinary people had starved to death.

Han Shu: You underestimate the hungry wolf that plundered the Qiang and Tatar royal courts! If my granddaughter hadn't married you and given birth to great-grandchildren, I would never have lent you this ferocious army!

The Han family has controlled the military power of the northern border for nearly thirty years. They have selected the best from among the 300,000 soldiers. These are the elite among the elite.

This is a matter of borrowing without returning. The Tatar army was able to attack the imperial city, and they were considered the most elite cavalry.

However, the Tatar army was too greedy. After they entered the imperial city, they did not plunder and escape. Instead, they were blinded by wealth and luxury, and immersed themselves in the land of pleasure.

He knew that three armies had returned to support the imperial city, each with a force of 50,000 men. This round of competition for the throne had officially begun.

However, Gu Zhao rushed from the imperial mausoleum to Pingcheng in the northern border, reorganized the troops, and then fought his way back to the imperial city from Pingcheng. His return time was the latest.

Gu Zhao served as the crown prince for nearly twenty years. He lacked military command but had strong political ability.

He was only willing to lead 30,000 troops to rescue the imperial city, leaving 20,000 troops to defend Pingcheng.

After Han Shu's persuasion, Gu Zhao took 40,000 troops to rescue the imperial city, and left 10,000 soldiers to guard Pingcheng. At the critical moment, Han Shu could gather young men and women from Pingcheng to defend the city together.

Han Chou's analysis was correct. When Gu Zhao ascended the throne, the threat from the aristocratic families was eliminated. After Gu Zhao firmly established himself on the throne, the most dangerous family would be the Han family, which held a large number of troops.

Now handing over the Han family's military power to Gu Zhao not only shows the Han family's loyalty and reduces the royal family's vigilance against the Han family, but also arranges a way out for Han Shu.

Han Shu was over sixty years old. He led less than ten thousand remaining soldiers to stay in Pingcheng, defending the national border to the death, preventing the Qiang and Tatar armies from entering the Central Plains. Even if he died on the battlefield, it would be an honorable death.

Han Shu said some loyal words and saw Gu Zhao's eyes turn red with emotion. Han Shu felt that his second grandson, in addition to being able to raise food and supplies, was also a master at manipulating people's hearts.

Unexpectedly, Gu Zhao did not rush back to rescue the imperial city, but first recruited soldiers in Pingcheng with Han Shu, regardless of gender.

In any case, before he leaves, Pingcheng must ensure that 50,000 troops are stationed at the border.

Pingcheng was very close to both the Tatars and the Qiang Kingdom, and a cavalry attack could make a round trip in less than half a day. Therefore, the border was very important, and he could not repeat his father's old mistakes.

Privately, he did not want to return to the capital to provide assistance immediately. He wanted to wait until the aristocratic families, the royal clan, and the Tatars were all defeated before attacking the capital.

When the number of recruits did not exceed 30,000, Han Shu immediately stopped and whispered to the enthusiastic Gu Zhao: "Don't recruit anymore. We don't have food to feed them. The food needed for the 10,000 wounded soldiers was bought at a high price by Han Chou by selling half of his grandfather's shop." Speaking of food, the old general's face was full of helplessness.

Gu Zhao woke up from his enthusiastic recruitment. He still thought how charismatic he was. He suddenly increased the troops. In seven days, he recruited more than 30,000 soldiers near Pingcheng. It turned out that they were also in a serious state of hunger before the spring plowing, and they joined the army just to find a way to survive.

Moreover, the Tatar army invaded the imperial city, and all the cities along the way were affected. The people who had been protected by the Han family for many years, when they were persecuted, could not help but blame and curse the court for its inaction.

This was due to Han Chou's good publicity. When reselling the shop, he would always give it a free publicity. For six months, the imperial court had not allocated any food and fodder to the Han family army, and countless low-ranking soldiers had starved to death. The main force of the army was framed by a certain traitor and had been burned alive.

Then, in the name of compensating comrades, the remaining shops of the Han family only accept jobs from the families of the Han family soldiers. The families of soldiers who work in the Han family shops will also be taught some simple words and counting methods to facilitate better work.

During this period, only nobles and officials could read and write, and the vast majority of Han soldiers came from the poor.