Chapter 398: Chasing the North and Killing, Bones Like Mountains [Subscribe]

The grassland was filled with Xianbei soldiers fleeing in all directions.

This is the habit of nomadic tribes, to flee in all directions after being defeated.

If the Wei army splits into small groups and chases after them, their containment capability will be reduced, allowing more people to escape and perhaps even have the strength to counterattack.

But this time, the Wei army chased too closely and held on to the Xianbei soldiers without letting go.

The outcome of the main battle has been decided.

Even Cao Cao rolled up his sleeves, rode his horse northward, and pursued the fugitives on all fronts.

Tuohe Naji was the leader of Iluotodu's personal army and a famous warrior in the tribe.

When the chief, deputy general, and Budugen of the Western Xianbei were killed one after another.

To and Naji became the leaders of the deserters.

He led the Xianbei royal army and fled northward.

Fortunately, it was getting dark and night was approaching.

This is obviously beneficial to the fleeing party.

Tuohe Naji's order to the entire army was to first go north to the Western Xianbei camp three hundred miles away, then regroup the troops and decide on their next move.

The battlefield where the two armies fought just now was the front line.

A few hundred miles to the north is the ancestral land of the Western Xianbei.

There are still many soldiers left in the camp.

Tuohe Naji wanted to gather people at the Western Xianbei camp to stabilize the situation.

He led his men to flee northward, and did not dare to rest even at night.

Behind him, he could always hear the sound of Wei army's horses' hooves, chasing him relentlessly like a death warrant.

The Xianbei soldiers at the rear of the column were often caught up and shot and fell off their horses.

The team was reduced in numbers little by little.

By the next day, Tohenaji's troops, who only dared to rest for an hour throughout the night to recover their strength, had lost nearly half of their men, all of whom were casualties caused by being pursued while fleeing.

At this time, the collapse continued to spread and everyone was fleeing in panic.

Whoever cannot outrun the Han army's horses will die.

As the Han territory stretched northward for hundreds of miles, the number of corpses increased.

After escaping for a day and a night, Tohenaji and his troops approached the Western Xianbei camp.

When the camp came into sight, it was already night time again.

The sky is full of stars and the moon is bright like water.

However, Toh and Najib's hearts sank to the bottom.

The fire in the Western Xianbei camp was blazing, and in the darkness, it could be seen from dozens of miles away.

The Western Xianbei camp was burned?

The Wei army sent people to attack the camp first?
As the thought flashed through their minds, the Xianbei soldiers, including Tuo and Naji, became exhausted and began to feel despair.

When the front line is defeated and the Xianbei soldiers flee, they will definitely gather at the nearest and largest camp in the hope of stabilizing their position.

The burning of the Western Xianbei camp meant that they would lose the chance to reunite.

At the same time, the opportunity to obtain supplies was lost.

They wanted to flee northwards to the heartland of the Xianbei, but they would be in great danger of death along the way as they were being chased by Cao's army, and their chances of survival were slim.

The Western Xianbei camp was located on high ground, and the fire was like a giant torch.

Tuo and Naji heard the sound of hooves behind them again, and vaguely the excited shouts of the Han army.

"The Han army is very cruel. Let's go from the northwest and take a detour back north."

Several of Tuo and Naji's men nodded silently.

They all understood what To and Najib meant.

The Wei army was chasing so closely, obviously intending to kill them all and would never let them go easily.

The tens of thousands of fleeing Xianbei soldiers hoped to return to the Xianbei heartland as soon as possible, so they would flee north with all their might.

The pursuers will naturally follow along the way.

If they take a detour, they might be able to avoid the main force of the Wei army and have a chance of survival.

Late September.

There is a big lake on the grassland a thousand miles north of Han territory.

After days of fleeing, Tohenaji led his troops here.

This big lake is a famous water source on the grassland.

Its location is close to the heartland of the two major royal tribes, Tuoba Jiefen and Yiluo Tuodu.

In the past ten days or so, the Xianbei soldiers have encountered unprecedented pursuit.

The Wei army caught up with the fleeing Xianbei tribe and chased them all the way from the north gate.

The Wei army even built a temporary camp hundreds of miles north of Han territory and transported supplies to ensure supply in order to complete the long-distance pursuit.

It is said that it is better to cut off one finger than to injure ten fingers.

Defeating the Xianbei was not the goal.

Let them go back to rest for a while, and when their combat effectiveness is restored, they will head south again.

The only way to deal a serious blow is to chase it with all your might and kill it.

Moreover, Cao Cao has other military purposes that have not yet been exposed.

He ordered the transportation of supplies from Hexi and Beiguan, and set up a temporary camp in the north to station troops and store food as a transit point, while he made every effort to hunt down the defeated Xianbei soldiers.

Why did Cao Cao choose September to launch the war?
The time was calculated accurately. There was still a month and a half left before the Great Cold on the grassland.

It was impossible for the troops of other tribes to march south in large numbers, otherwise they would face the situation of retreating in the severe winter and freezing to death or frostbite.

At this time, you can pursue the fugitive without worrying about the Xianbei troops coming to pick you up.

At this time, Tohnaga led his troops to flee thousands of miles and stopped at a water source.

They all breathed a sigh of relief.

Once they escape to this area, the Han army will not continue to pursue them no matter what.

Otherwise, there would be a large number of new Xianbei troops to provide support.

It would provoke a new war, which would be very disadvantageous to the Han army in terms of time and geographical environment.

When Tuohe Naji led his troops here, there were already many Xianbei soldiers on the lakeside, all of whom were defeated troops who had fled all the way here.

Most of those who could escape to this area would stay for a short time to replenish their consumption and drink water. To and Naji also wanted to integrate their troops here.

Continuing north and bypassing the big lake, we will reach Tuoba Jiefen, the rear base where Yiluo Tuodu integrated the remaining tribal personnel before going on the expedition.

Women, the elderly, and children were grazing together on the other side of the lake, waiting for them to return from the battle.

Unfortunately, this march southwards resulted in an unprecedented defeat, and many Xianbei people could never return home.

To and Naji waited here for a whole day, and more than a hundred people came and gathered.

Judging from the time, most of the escaped Xianbei people should have arrived nearby.

However, the total number of Xianbei soldiers gathered by the lake was less than 10,000.

How many Xianbei people did the Wei army kill along the way?

Tuo and Naji asked some Xianbei tribesmen and found out that as they fled north, the Wei army was chasing them from behind.

There was also a Wei army that intercepted them in front.

"You mean, some Han troops entered the grassland ahead of time and blocked our way back north?"

Tuo and Naji's hearts skipped a beat and they immediately thought of the fire in the Western Xianbei camp.

A team of Wei troops first burned down the main camp of the Western Xianbei, depriving them of supplies and the opportunity to regroup and reorganize.

Then the Wei army advanced northward, entered the grassland, and intercepted the Xianbei fleeing soldiers on the way.

Then it is probably not safe here either.

Since the Wei army entered the grassland in advance, their activity area might be much larger than they expected.

"We have to continue northward. We can't wait here."

Tuohe Naji stood up, glanced around the lake, and summoned the surrounding Xianbei tribesmen to prepare to continue returning north.

Just as they were gathering their men and planning to march north overnight, a black spot appeared in the sky.

That's thousands of arrows.

Qu Yi's great crossbowman!

The team that went deep into the grassland in advance was Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, and Qu Yi, who cooperated with each other.

The person who made the strategic plan was Lu Su.

He formulated a new strategy after observing Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao's pursuit and battle against Tuoba Jiefen.

Lu Su meant that it would be difficult to expand the results of the war if they continued to pursue Tuoba Jiefen.

The opposite should be done. Give up the pursuit and march north with the entire army first.

The advantage of going north first is that you can seize the initiative and cut off the opponent's retreat in advance.

Zhang Liao and Zhao Yun looked at Lu Su's plan and questioned Cao Cao using the interrogation beads.

After receiving the news, Cao Cao thought to himself that Lu Su was really a madman.

You must know that when he formulated the strategy of advancing deep northward to cut off the Xianbei's retreat route, the battle between the main force of Cao's army and Yiluo Tuodu had not yet decided the outcome.

If the main force of the Wei army failed to win, it would be very risky to advance into the enemy territory early, as they would be an isolated force advancing deep into the enemy territory.

Once the Yiluotudu troops retreat, they may be surrounded and killed.

Moreover, Zhao Yun and his men were engaged in a rapid-fire attack, and they had little food and fodder with them. If they wanted to go deep behind enemy lines, they had to rely on robbing the Xianbei tribes along the way to replenish their supplies.

Just like the Han cavalry general Huo Qubing who went deep into the grassland, if there is a mistake in the calculation, he will be in trouble.

But Cao Cao hesitated for a moment and agreed to Lu Su's suggestion.

This is based on his confidence in the combat effectiveness of his troops and his prediction of the battle situation.

At that time, after Zhang Liao and Zhao Yun received Cao Cao's reply of approval, they made clear the division of labor.

Zhao Yun first attacked the Western Xianbei camp and set fire to it.

Zhang Liao then advanced deeply to the north.

They did not continue to pursue Tuoba Jiefen.

Although Tuoba Jiefen suffered a great defeat, his core followers had not dispersed. If we pursued him, he would flee northward, making it difficult to expand his victory.

By heading north first and then blocking the way, they could wipe out most of the Xianbei soldiers heading south, which would bring much greater results than continuing to pursue Tuoba Jiefen.

When the battle ended, Tuoba Jiefen withdrew his troops, unaware that the Wei army had already moved north.

Tuoba Jiefen advanced northward a hundred miles and then tried to contact Yiluo Tuodu, hoping to join forces and seek stability.

When he learned that Yiluo Tuodu had been defeated and killed, the Han army had entered the pursuit stage, the situation was irreversible, and the initiative was lost.

This is also the reason why Qu Yi's crossbowman could appear by the lake and suddenly shoot arrows at Tuo, Naji and others.

The Xianbei soldiers were like frightened birds, and when they saw the arrows being shot at them, they stood up and ran away.

Gao Shun, who was with Qu Yi, immediately led his troops to charge out.

When Tuo and Naji's team was defeated again, the organized Xianbei soldiers were killed.

In early October, the weather was getting colder 500 miles north of the Han Dynasty.

A big fire has been burning here for two days.

The bodies burned were those of the Xianbei soldiers.

The corpses were gathered together and burned because there were too many dead people. If they were torn apart and eaten by birds and beasts, it would be easy to spread the plague.

Birds and animals will migrate following the warm current, and will most likely head south, spreading the epidemic to China first, and thus suffering the consequences themselves.

So Cao Cao ordered the corpses to be gathered together and burned.

The Xianbei central army that marched south in this battle had 80,000 troops.

There were more than 20,000 troops who attacked western Liaoning.

That's 100,000 troops. Together with the Western Xianbei, the total number of troops mobilized is about 140,000.

At least two-thirds were killed in the fighting and pursuit.

This was an unprecedented defeat for the Xianbei.

The bodies of tens of thousands of Xianbei soldiers were burned and the fire burned for several days.

Afterwards, Cao Cao had the unburned bones piled up, and he also placed the heads of some generals on top of the bones, piling them up like a mountain.

It is said that even wolves would avoid this area as there are so many bones and the air is filled with death.

October.

Cao Cao ordered his troops to withdraw and began to promote his second and main purpose of fighting this war.

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(End of this chapter)