12dz Chapter 336: 1 Han against 5 Hu.
Chapter 336: 1 Han against 5 Hu.
The Hun cavalry all wore leather armor, and the quality was very poor.
When faced with Ye Kun’s powerful crossbow, that leather armor is like a paper lantern!
On the battlefield, wailing, screaming and cursing were heard one after another. It was simply hell on earth.
Maoquan Chanyu, who was leading the rear army, saw that the situation was not good and began to retreat.
Ye Kun's left and right light cavalry battalions rushed out, shooting arrows with powerful bows and chasing closely.
Maoquan Chanyu's entire army retreated, dispersed, and sneaked into the prairie.
The light cavalry battalion chased the enemy for a hundred miles and did not withdraw until dawn.
Ye Kun's army followed, cleaning up the battlefield and collecting the spoils along the way.
The Huns did not have much baggage, but they had large tents, as well as cattle, sheep, and food.
In this battle, Ye Kun killed more than 5,000 enemies, seized hundreds of tents of various sizes, thousands of cattle and sheep, countless dead horses, and the Huns' inferior leather armor, bows, arrows, swords and guns.
There were also some animal skin clothes, felt and other things, which were not valuable.
Ye Kun knew that resources were scarce, so he sorted, registered, and organized all the seized civilian items, then sent them back to the rear on a cart, where they were further organized and disinfected before being distributed to the people.
Some of the captured cattle and sheep were kept as military rations, and the rest were sent to the rear.
And the dead horses also had to be skinned, boiled, and salted.
He Zhongshu was very excited about the great victory in the first battle and suggested pursuing the victory.
Ye Kun shook his head and said with a smile: "Mao Quan Chanyu's main force is still there, we can't advance rashly. The most reliable way to fight is to advance step by step and steadily."
The Hun soldiers were very mobile, while Ye Kun's troops had baggage and heavy guns and cannons, and were not as mobile as theirs.
If we go deep into the prairie, we are prone to being ambushed and killed.
Advance steadily, consume the opponent's fighting power, make him weaker and weaker, and finally win the battle in one go.
The army of the Little Wise King was also advancing steadily and winning battle after battle.
Although these were small victories, they dealt a severe blow to the morale of the Western Xiongnu.
But half a month later, in mid-February, Ye Kun discovered something was wrong.
After marching for ten consecutive days and advancing five hundred miles northward, they did not see a single Hun soldier!
The guide in the army, who was originally a Han Chinese kidnapped by the Western Xiongnu, said to Ye Kun:
"The Huns roam everywhere and have no fixed residence. The prairie is too vast, and even with five million troops, it would be impossible to search it all. But we can follow the dung left by cattle, sheep and horses to find the direction and path of the Huns' retreat, and send light cavalry to raid.
If we march slowly like we are now, the Huns can retreat calmly. But if we march a hundred miles a day, the Huns' cattle, sheep, women, old people and children will not have time to evacuate."
Ye Kun suddenly realized and called together the best soldiers in the army to discuss countermeasures.
He Zhongshu said: "We can separate four or five light cavalry vanguards, form a horizontal line, and chase northward. After finding the target, we will immediately attack together! This is the way the Xiongnu fought, and we should learn from it."
After some thought, Ye Kun agreed with He Zhongshu's opinion.
He Zhongshu selected light cavalry to form five vanguards. He led an army of 5,000 in the center, with two armies on each side, each with 2,000 people. They brought enough dry food and raided northward overnight.
Ye Kun and Guan Yong also divided the rear army into two parts, left and right, to speed up the advance and provide support for the five vanguards.
The five vanguards were all elite troops and they marched a hundred and fifty miles in one day and night without any hurry.
Ye Kun's rear army had a large number of chariots, and the soldiers took turns riding in them. Even if they worked a little harder, they could still travel a hundred miles a day.
Just as the guide said, four days later, the five vanguards caught up with the Hun army and started fighting.
The five vanguards were all fully armed and equipped with armor, and were not afraid of the Huns' bows and arrows.
The quality of their swords and spears is far superior to that of the Huns.
The Huns had long lacked carbohydrates, were short in stature, and used three-foot-long scimitars.
Ye Kun's elite troops are all burly men, holding eight-foot-long spears.
Therefore, the combat effectiveness of both sides is not at the same level.
One Han army can defeat five barbarians. That's not just nonsense!
Maoquan Chanyu relied on his large number of troops and made a desperate move, using an army of 70,000 to besiege He Zhongshu's five vanguards.
Following Ye Kun's advice, He Zhongshu set up camp on the spot, fought a positional battle, used defense as offense, and tied down the enemy's main force.
A day later, Ye Kun and Guan Yong's two armies arrived, firing guns, cannons and crossbows, and defeated Mao Quan Chanyu's 70,000 main forces.
The Young Wise King cut off Mao Quan Chanyu's retreat route and cooperated with Ye Kun to pursue and intercept him.
After two days of fierce fighting, Chanyu Maoquan was finally defeated and led 5,000 remnants to break out of the encirclement and head towards the North Sea.
At this point, the Northern Expedition against the Western Xiongnu finally achieved a phased victory.
Although the Western Xiongnu were not completely wiped out, their legs were broken and it was estimated that they would not be able to recover within five years.
Ye Kun killed 50,000 enemies and captured hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep, 30,000 horses, and more than 70,000 men and women of the Western Xiongnu.
The young wise king also reaped a rich harvest, seizing countless slaves, cattle, sheep, and even robbing several large carts of high-quality gold sand!
After the war, the young wise king came to pay a visit to Ye Kun with five carts of gold sand.
Ye Kun received all the gold sand, about 6,000 kilograms. This stuff can be simply refined into pure gold, which is very valuable.
The Little Wise King bowed and said, "Among the captives and slaves I captured, there are more than 3,000 Han people, who I have also brought to the King of Hanzhong. There are also 100 beautiful Xiongnu women, who are presented to the King of Hanzhong."
"Then I won't be polite." Ye Kun laughed and said:
"I'll give you this vast prairie to manage. All the lactating and pregnant cattle and sheep are yours. The elderly and lonely captives are also yours. The captured pots and pans, ox carts and horse carriages, and messy tents are all yours."
The captured 70,000 Xiongnu civilians made Ye Kun happy but also troubled.
That night, Ye Kun inspected the prisoner camp, learned about the situation, and then did some comforting, telling everyone that he would take everyone back to live a stable farming life from then on.
Most of these captives were elderly people, women and children.
Because all the Huns were soldiers, too many young and strong men died in this battle!
It is gratifying that among this group of captives, there are also several thousand Han people who are willing to return to the Han area.
Rest in place for five days, treat the wounded and comfort the prisoners.
On March 15th, Ye Kun returned triumphantly.
The young wise king protected the emperor all the way and took over the territory by the way.
Among the captives, there were 10,000 to 20,000 who were unwilling to move. Ye Kun left them to the Little Wise King and took the rest away.
We were carrying prisoners, so the march was slow.
It took Ye Kun twenty-five days to return to Zhangye County.
By this time, it was already mid-April.
Ye Kun selected several thousand Xiongnu girls and married them to the Han army, through intermarriage and marriage, they became a loving family from then on.
Other young widows, still with children, were sent to Hanzhong and Wudu, where they married and started their own families.
The strong and healthy Hun captives were sent directly to mine and build roads.
There were also some beautiful Xiongnu beauties, whom Ye Kun gave to generals in the army as concubines in order to increase the population.
Even Ye Kun's godson, Tan Bamao, got two Xiongnu concubines.
Tan Bamao said with a smile: "Godfather, why don't you keep a few Xiongnu beauties to be my stepmothers?"
"Fuck you!" Ye Kun kicked Tan Bamao and said, "Is your godfather that kind of person?"
Tan Bamao felt aggrieved: "Then why did I see two beautiful Xiongnu girls in your tent a few nights ago? When I met you the next morning, you still smelled like sheep."