The flags headed westward, and the three armies stepped across the Helan Mountains.

The sun shifted, causing the shadow of Helan Mountain to move away in a hurry due to fear, and wanted to give way to General Tunhu.

"It's not enough for the Hu people to dare to go south and herd their horses."

The white-haired Han Wei raised his head and looked at the towering mountain shadow. Although he was old, his ambition was not inferior to Feng Tang. Li Guang: "In the Qin Dynasty, Meng Tian won the Huns and captured this place, but he lost it again. In the Han Dynasty, he relied on the achievements of famous generals to establish counties here. Today, this general wants to move the boundary of China four hundred miles away!"

Behind General Tenghu, the infantry and cavalry were raised high in flags and carriages were filled with rice and meat, which was enough for a month's food.

After leaving Beiyi Mountain (Helan Mountain), he left Xin Dynasty and entered the territory of the Huns.

To the east of the mountain is the fertile soil of the Houtao Plain in the Middle Qin Dynasty. The city is densely covered with fields, but the other side of the mountain is a barren world. The rich grass knee-high by the Yellow River has become weeds dotted on the red Gobi. Rivers and lakes are rare, but dry salt flats are one after another. Grassland has completely disappeared, leaving only a rolling sea of ​​sand. After the Helan Mountain is blocked, the wind and sand directly hit the soldiers' faces.

Most of the soldiers had never left the frontier, nor had they seen such a vast desert. The military officers only stumbled: "Is this the legendary curtain of Wei Huo crossing the attack on Hu?"

"This is just a small curtain." Han Wei asked someone to spread the map. They were in the wasteland between two deserts (Ulanbuhe Desert, Tengger Desert). They occasionally saw shrubs and vegetation, and even found water sources. Following this green channel, it was the goal of the new army's outbound goal: fighting the ground.

The so-called Doudi is a territory that was built by Xuan, the Later Han Dynasty and the Huns, and the Huns entered a territory where the former Zhangye was facing Zhangye, which is now the Ping County. Although the north and south were married, the beacon towers were not cancelled. In order to guard against the Doudi, the Han Dynasty stationed troops in the border areas.

During the reign of Emperor Cheng of Han, a Han envoy suggested to Wang Mang's uncle and General of the Grand Marshal Cavalry that since the Huns were vassal to the Han Dynasty, it would be better to ask the Shanyu directly for this land, which could be used as a barrier outside the border and reduce half of the soldiers on the northwest border.

Emperor Cheng of Han wanted it but was afraid that the Huns would not agree to damage the emperor's dignity, so he only asked the envoy to propose it as a personal identity. The Huns did politely refuse. At that time, the Han family was in decline and they were unable to send troops out of the frontier, so they had to give up.

However, as Wang Gen's successor, Emperor Wang Mang was obsessed with this matter, and now he launched a war, allowing the establishment of Ping (Zhangye), Zhangye (Wuwei), GouSou (Shuofang), and Xinqinzhong to march in four directions, and tens of thousands of troops were aimed at the ground!

"Four paths come out together, and we will practice the power of the emperor and heaven, and punish us to our bodies!"

Compared with the long expedition of Huo Juemu in the Han Dynasty, the journey of several thousand miles was a small battle. The distance between the ground was set up, and Zhangye was close, only two or three hundred miles away, and only four hundred miles away from Xin Qinzhong. It will be there in ten days.

The command of General Tunhu was known as ten thousand people, but in fact, there were only six thousand people who could eat empty wages, four thousand were the regular soldiers and two thousand were the envious soldiers. After going out to the frontier for ten days, half of the food was eaten, and half of the pack animals were thirsty and slaughtered, he finally saw a steep and upright mountain.

It is different from the bare stone mountains that are common outside the Great Wall. The mountain is full of lush vegetation. It is late autumn in the north of the Great Wall. The coniferous forests, birch trees and poplars on the mountains show different colors, green, yellow, red, colorful and beautiful.

It is indeed exactly the same as the "several mountain colors" described by the guide.

Han Wei stood on the carriage and looked at the mountain from a distance: "The land of the Xiongnu is within a radius of thousands of miles south of Madam Fan City. The wood of this mountain is easy to use. The strange wood growing on the mountain, and adding feathers is very suitable for making arrow rods. The wood of felt tents and vehicles in the right countries also comes from this."

The clear spring, which had not been seen for a long time, reappeared on the surface. The soldiers cheered and drank with pain. The grass had not yet withered yet, and the hungry horses, mules and donkeys were bowing their heads and chewing.

This is the economic value of fighting the earth. Wang Mang hopes that after taking this place, the puppet Shanyu Xubu will come here to recruit the Xiongnu and establish a new royal court, so as to split the Xiongnu, use Hu to control Hu, and achieve the goal of "guarding the four barbarians".

But...what are the friendly forces?

Logically speaking, the other three armies should have arrived at the Doudi long ago and continued to go north to fight with the Huns' right army. Now, not only the Huns flee far away, but there is no one within a radius of a hundred miles, and even the scouts of the new army are not seen.

"Is it possible that the Huns gathered their troops to attack one of them first and blocked them halfway?"

It's not right. Han Wei looked at the war examples of the former Han Dynasty. China often went out of several ways, while the Huns liked to concentrate their troops to attack one side. How could they attack the three ways together?

Han Wei asked the army to station in the Doudi first, and sent the cavalry to search in the other three directions, and received rewards in three days.

"General, we have found traces of the three military camps that were once stationed!"

Han Wei was overjoyed: "Then how far are they?"

"I dare to report to General Yu, and more than 10,000 General Hu went out to set up Pingju Yan to travel east, and went out to the fortress for a hundred miles and returned."

"More than 10,000 General Pingdi went out of Zhangye County to Xiutu Ze to go north, and went out of the border for 80 miles back."

"General Gengshi Lian Dan, who was 20,000, went out of the valley to search the high-que passes in the county, and went out of the frontier... The officials did not find his camp, and I don't know how many miles he went out."

Han Wei was stunned for a moment, which was far from the scene he imagined that the gathering of all directions, the flags facing north, the Huns were afraid, and the Shanyu worshipped him.

Now that he is the only one who is honest in the attack, he has arrived on a long way, and the rest are all back. What should he do now?

Just as Han Wei was hesitating, another scout came to report: "General, to the north of the fight, he found the right army of the Huns!"

...

Han Wei heard a story like this: In his later years, Emperor Wen of Han met Li Guang when he was young, but when he saw Li Guang's brave battles, superb archery skills, and most hunting. Emperor Wen of Han appreciated it very much, but he felt regretful, and said: "I am sorry that when my son didn't meet him, if he was born in the time of Emperor Gao, how could a thousand households be worthy of it!"

Han Wei always felt that he had given birth to the wrong era in the past. During Emperor Xuan, Fu Jiezi, Chang Hui and Zheng Ji were not born yet.

When Emperor Yuan Dynasty conquered Chen Tang, Gan Yanshou fought for the surrendered territory and killed the head of the Zhizhi Shanyu, and hung the head of the throne. He was still young when he was famous all over the world.

Most of Han Wei's life, the Han family and the Huns maintained peace. There were no police officers in the frontier for three generations. He had no place to go if he wanted to make meritorious service and was granted a title of marquis. Not to mention that his family had ancestral teachings and was not allowed to be an official.

But Han Wei only understood his grandfather's last words as "not allowed to be an official in the Han Dynasty."

After the founding of the new house, he was 60 years old. He claimed to be a talented man but was depressed and unsuccessful, and finally caught up with a good time. He joined the army to quell the rebellion and threatened that 5,000 people would wipe out the Huns. He was valued by the emperor and finally got the responsibility of the general and took the lead alone.

"Rong Di jackals, if you don't kill them all, how can you raise them as domestic animals? Sooner or later, you will be backfired." Han Wei's thoughts were exactly the same as those of Emperor Wang Mang. When the king and his ministers asked each other, they hit it off. Han Wei, as the most hard-core pro-war faction, had a clear contrast with the others.

Today, Han Wei Zhenzhen ushered in the scene he had been looking forward to: the war with the Huns.

However, the number of the two sides was quite different. With no friendly troops arriving all the way, Han Wei actually only had 6,000 soldiers.

After long ago, after he was cruising north of the Doudi, he found that Han Wei was alone and he was cautiously surrounded by at least 30,000 to 40,000 cavalry, which concentrated the entire right-hand side to deal with it.

"Don't panic, the same huge battle, Wei, Huo has fought!"

Han Wei used strong words to cover up his horror. Speaking of which, ten years after the war between the Xin Dynasty and the Huns began, this was the first time that the new army went out of the frontier. They had zero combat experience with the Huns, and could only rely on the method passed down by the old soldiers on the frontier to camp on the terrain.

The new army camped with baggage chariots and deployed outside the camp. The soldiers in the front held halberds and shields, while the soldiers in the back held bows and arrows, and were anxiously waiting for the Huns to attack.

The Hun cavalry was so powerful that it seemed to have more plants and trees on Doudi Mountain. From a distance, they looked like black clouds slamming the city. They were mostly temporary herders recruited, with poor order and combat effectiveness. Sometimes they sent a team to come back to test, and were shot by a crossbow arrow, leaving behind dozens of corpses and retreating.

The barbarians were no longer impatient and surrounded them from afar, like wolves hunting, looking forward to the moment when the prey was exhausted.

Han Wei's carriage was well laid, but the soldiers had no way out, but they did not escape, so they were not in a position to seize the road. It was no problem to stick to it. The biggest trouble was food and water. The dry food brought out of the block was only five days left. The soldiers who had previously drank Qingquan began to have diarrhea. It must be that the Huns had witch cursed at the water source and buried the corpses of the sick animals.

Now Han Wei can only hope that friendly forces will come to help. He began to feel that this was General Gengshi's plan, which was to use himself as bait to lure the large Xiongnu troops to surround him. Then the three new troops arrived and then came another counter-encirclement. Now he could wipe out the main force of the right Xiongnu and shock the Huns.

But after waiting for five days and five nights, the food was about to end. However, the water was empty in the morning and the well was dug, so the water was not good, so the soldiers had never dug out water. They drank dew and quenched their thirst. They couldn't bear it and started killing the animals and drinking blood.

After living with the Han Dynasty for several generations, the Huns also learned to be smart. In addition to sending cavalry to archery while archery and harassment on a daily basis, they also sent people to surrender in Chinese dialect.

The person who came was Lu Fang's brother Lu Qin. After he went out of the frontier under the order of Lu Fang, he found the King Julin of the Huns, became his aide, and reported on the situation in Senei.

Then I found that there were a large number of Han people in the Xiongnu tent, but they defected from the Western Regions ten years ago. They all claimed to be loyal Han officials. At this moment, the eloquent and eloquent people also shouted for the Xiongnu people: "Just, listen to me!"

The regular soldiers who were hungry behind the Wugang car, the envious soldiers turned their ears, but heard the shouts from the opposite side: "The Huns and the Han Dynasty were brothers. The Huns had civil strife in the past. It was Emperor Xiaoxuan of the Han Dynasty who helped Huhanye Shanyu ascend the throne, so the Huns praised the Han Dynasty to show respect. However, as a minister of the Han Dynasty, Wang Mang usurped the throne and changed the seals that lasted several generations without authorization, deliberately humiliating the Shanyu, resulting in the breakup between the two countries."

"Ten years ago, Chen Liang, the escort chief of the Western Regions of the Han Dynasty, finally brought his others to miss the Han Dynasty and killed the Wuyi Captain, and brought about more than 2,000 civil and military officials, as well as his relatives and men and women, to join the Huns. The Great Shanyu appointed two of them as the Wuben Captain, and the more than 2,000 people were properly placed, and they had no worries about food and clothing."

"All the wars on the border were caused by Wang Mang's will, and the Huns were just forced to fight back. Now if you are willing to surrender, you can save your lives like the guards of the Western Regions. You are a Han family when you are alive, how can you become a rebel in the Xinshi when you die!"

Don't say anything, Han Wei's army was in chaos during this round of shouting. The soldiers muttered and discussed the truth on the other side. Han Wei was shocked and immediately beat the drum to cover up the shouting on the other side.

But the commotion in the hearts of ordinary soldiers could not be concealed.

"Don't believe the words of the spies of the Huns. Then Chen Liang finally brought others and was sent back to Chang'an by the Huns and executed with burning punishment. This is the consequence of surrender!"

Wang Mang quoted the "Book of Changes" as "burning like death" and was very fascinated by this punishment. When he caught rebellion, he often put up wooden frames and burned them to death with a fire, which shocked the young people before their death.

But these words did not reassure the soldiers, but instead highlighted the cruelty of Xinmang. What's more, the only ones sent back to be executed were officials. Aren't ordinary soldiers still in the Huns? They were looking at the roads in the camp, and the morale of the army became even more chaotic.

As the days passed, friendly troops were still missing, and Han Wei's expectations disappeared little by little. Seeing that the Huns attacked more and more frequently, and their physical strength and morale became even worse. What's even more terrible is that the crossbow arrows she brought were about to be exhausted after the inexperienced soldiers shot randomly for several days. This was the biggest reliance of the new army.

They were in desperate situations, and the veteran general licked his cracked lips and had to make the difficult decision of Li Ling more than a hundred years ago.

"Break the camp and break south!"

...

The breakout was very smooth. The Huns had almost no battles. They only resisted for a while and then let go of the encirclement. They did not like positional wars, and chasing the tail was the rhythm that nomads loved.

The reason why Han Wei did not choose to return to Xinqinzhong east was because Helan Mountain was four hundred miles away, while Xiu Tuze in the south was only two hundred miles away, and could arrive in five days. Perhaps after the news of the new army stationed there, he could go out to rescue and turn around to win a big victory.

Han Wei still remembers victory in the current dilemma.

However, when the Huns were chasing tens of thousands of horses, the army became extremely slow, and they had to turn around after taking a few steps. Han Wei deliberately led the Huns into the forest, and with the help of terrain, infantry and cavalry, they fought in a short battle, and killed hundreds of cavalry.

Han Wei did not forget to remind his subordinates: "The heads are placed in the car, this is evidence of our struggle."

"But there are only enough wounded soldiers in the carriage."

"Then let the injured soldiers hold the head and don't throw it away!"

It seemed that the entire right-handed barbarians had been dispatched, and thousands of cavalry were added in just a few days. The new army was like a lonely boat in the ocean, and there would be a big wave coming at some point.

They staggered forward, and on the second day, the food was completely gone, and the hungry soldiers stared at the horses of the cavalry.

Han Wei set an example and contributed his war horses, hoping that his subordinates would follow suit, but this incident triggered the most serious escape since the enemy. Yesterday, the military officials and cavalry who were commanded by Han Wei were reluctant to listen to Han Wei's command, after hearing that they would take turns to kill horses to satisfy their hunger, they fled overnight with their troops and abandoned their walking robes!

As if it triggered a chain reaction, I was not sure why this war was fought, and no one wanted to fight to the death of the Xin Dynasty, but the infantrymen also began to flee. Ren Hanwei cursed in the wind and stabbed several deserters to death with his own hands, but it was useless.

Seeing the new soldiers' hearts go up, tens of thousands of Hu Qi rode on planes to catch up again and stared at Han Wei's flag to attack.

Han Wei could only stop again and fight and leave with less than 3,000 remaining soldiers. The soldiers were seriously injured lying in the car, the cart was pushed, and the mild ones were mild, and the mild ones were fighting with weapons.

In the past, a Han Dynasty could defeat the Five Barbarians, but now a new enemy could defeat the Four Barbarians?

Relying on the exquisite armor, they could withstand the Huns' shooting arrows in a row, but as their physical strength was exhausted, more and more people fell down, not to mention that during the attack, the Huns continued to inspire in Chinese.

"Subdue! What kind of kindness do the new room have to you? Do you want to die for him?"

The soldiers were constantly losing their fighting spirit and threw their weapons into the Huns' army. The fewer and fewer people in Han Wei's formation fought. The darkness went and then came. I don't know how many days later, there were still no friendly troops coming to support the south, west, and east.

They could only fight with their final will, and in the end there were less than a hundred people left, all covered in blood. Someone even had more than ten arrows inserted into his armor, and could only break them one by one.

The food was completely gone, and Han Wei could only say ashamed to his subordinates: "I wrote a letter to Your Majesty, saying that I wish that five thousand brave men would not bring food to fight, eat meat from the enemy, and drink blood from the thirsty, so that I could run rampant in the Huns."

"I am suffering from this trouble now, not because of the power, but because of the misfortune of my friendly forces! Although I cannot be rampant among the Huns, I can eat this flesh and blood."
To be continued...