In two days, Liu Cheng played with his wife and children for two days.
He didn't know how long it would take to return to Mobei, and he didn't know if he could return safely.
Therefore, Liu Cheng cherished these two days very much. .
That night, when the children were asleep, Zhao Rui, the commander of the Bronze Mirror Department, came to ask for an audience.
After Liu Cheng received the report, he came to the front hall to meet him.
"Meet my lord" Zhao Rui walked into the front hall and saluted with clasped fists.
Liu Cheng raised his hand and said: "Without courtesy, tell me if you found anything."
Zhao Rui said: "Back to my lord, my subordinates have sent people to follow Tuoba Liwei, He Guliulian and others, and found that they do have contacts in the city.
I have sent people to keep an eye on the two locations and have them under surveillance.
You can arrest people” Liu Cheng thought for a while and ordered: "Don't touch Tuoba Liwei, He Gu Liulian and the others for the time being.
Send people overnight to arrest all the spies they have placed in the city, and monitor Tuoba Liwei and He Gu Liulian."
Put others under house arrest, do not allow them to have any contact with the outside world, and must prevent them from escaping."
"Yes," Zhao Rui agreed, turned around and left quickly.
Two quarters of an hour later, several groups of soldiers and horses appeared on the street and rushed towards the hiding place of the Tuoba Xianbei people's spies.
It didn't take long before the two hiding places of the spies were besieged until even a fly could fly.
Don't go there.
The soldiers all held torches, some held spears, some held steel knives, and some held bows and arrows.
Zhao Rui, with a black cloak on his shoulders, rode over on horseback with a few head catchers.
The soldiers made way for a passage and clasped their fists, saying: "See you, Lord Commander."
Zhao Rui rode to the innermost circle, checked the situation inside the house, and asked: "What's going on inside?"
The captain who led the army clasped his fists and said: "Sir, when we first surrounded this place, there was a panic inside, but it soon became quiet again, and there has been no movement until now."
Zhao Rui immediately ordered: "It's getting late.
Let's do it.
Fight in.
Capture those who can be captured alive, and kill those who cannot be captured alive."
"Yes," the captain agreed with his fists clasped, he drew his sword and pointed toward the courtyard, shouting: "First, second, second, let me fight in."
"Kill!"
More than 20 soldiers, armed with weapons and torches, kicked open the courtyard door and rushed in, shouting.
The sound of fighting and the clash of weapons soon spread in the courtyard and the house, and screams continued to be heard.
Tuoba Xianbei people continued to escape from the house, trying to break through the encirclement outside, but Without exception, they were all shot down by bows and arrows from outside.
The battle ended in less than a quarter of an hour.
Eight spies were killed and two were captured alive.
The battlefield was being cleaned here, and another knight rushed over to report to Zhao Rui: "Commander, we have taken over the Xijiao stronghold on West Street.
We killed four and captured three alive."
"It's better to bring back all the living and dead immediately, and immediately interrogate the living overnight to see if there are any fish that have slipped through the net."
"promise" Early the next morning, after breakfast, Liu Cheng put on his battle armor and hung a sword on his waist with the help of his personal guards.
When he was about to set off for the military camp, Zhao Rui came to report: "My lord, the Tuoba Xianbei people are doing something good in the city."
All of them have been pulled out by our Bronze Mirror Division.
Last night, we conducted an overnight surprise interrogation of those who were captured alive, and confirmed that all of them have been caught, and no fish have slipped through the net."
Liu Cheng held up his helmet and said: "Well done, the imprisonment of Tuoba Liwei, He Guliulian and others cannot be relaxed, and they must not be allowed to escape.
If anyone asks why they are under house arrest, just think that they are engaged in detailed work in our territory."
We will deal with it on the grounds of activities and ignore everything else.”
"Yes."
Zhao Rui clasped his fists and agreed, hesitating for a moment and then asked: "My lord, since these people are dishonest, why don't you kill them?
Anyway, the war against Tuoba Xianbei is about to begin, so it's not too early to kill them now."
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Liu Cheng shook his head and said: "After all, they are envoys.
Even if you want to kill them, you have to wait until Tuoba Xianbei is destroyed before taking action.
Doing it now will make other envoys from other countries feel as sad as rabbits and foxes.
We, the Han Dynasty, are a country of etiquette." , everything must be done according to rules and interests.”
"Understood" It took Liu Cheng more than an hour to arrive at the Huaili military camp with his personal guards.
At this time, the military camp was already very noisy. 20,000 Han cavalry, 20,000 Qiang cavalry and a bowl of Xiongnu cavalry had all assembled.
With the arrival of Liu Cheng, Yan Xing, Chen Dao, Wang Shuang, Ma Chao, Yang Ru, Yang Ding and others came forward to pay homage: "Meet my lord."
Liu Cheng nodded and said: "How are the preparations for the no-gift army?"
"Go back to my lord, everything is ready and ready to go at any time."
Liu Cheng looked at Li Ru, Guo Jia, Chen Qun and others behind him, then galloped to the general stand.
He looked at the 50,000 cavalry soldiers under the stage and shouted: "Soldiers, are you all ready?
" "Ready" everyone roared in unison.
Liu Cheng drew his sword and pointed outside the military camp: "Let Ma Chao lead the five thousand cavalry as the vanguard and set off, and the other troops will follow in sequence according to their numbers and set off."
"promise" Under the leadership of Ma Chao, the army set off quickly and orderly, and the 50,000-strong army dragged out a ten-mile-long march.
Everyone was riding horses at a trot.
This way of marching could not only maintain a considerable marching speed, but also prevent the horses from feeling too tired after marching for a long time.
During the march, Guo Jia caught up with Liu Cheng and said, "My lord, our soldiers did not bring warm clothes.
It is July now, and we only have three months at most to fight.
If Tuoba Xianbei cannot be defeated within three months, The main force must end the war and withdraw, otherwise once it encounters a cold wave, the army will be in danger of being annihilated."
Liu Cheng nodded and said, "Yes, we don't have much time left.
I hope our luck won't be too bad this time."
During this expedition, Liu Cheng dispatched 50,000 troops and 120,000 horses.
The scale was unprecedented.
Each cavalry was basically equipped with two horses for rotational riding.
There are also 10,000 war horses used to carry grain and grass supplies on camels, and the remaining 10,000 war horses are used as backup.
Just the consumption of grain and grass concentrate by the war horses is a very terrible figure.
In the area controlled by the imperial court, on the road from Chang'an to Zhangye and Juyan Kingdom, because it is impossible to always encounter a place with abundant water and grass when camping along the way, the food for the horses is a mixture of fine feed and fodder.
If the camp is There is no wild grass around for the horses to eat, so all feed must be used. , this is also the place with the greatest logistical burden, but once they leave the Juyan vassal state of Zhangye and enter the Mongolian Plateau, the war horses can eat fresh weeds every day, and the pressure on logistics is also reduced a lot, and the energy of pack transportation along the way is reduced.
There will be less and less food and grass, and the army's load will become lighter and lighter.
It took Liu Cheng's 50,000 troops and 120,000 horses to travel from Chang'an to Wuwei in 12 days.
The average daily marching distance was about 150 miles, which was already the highest normal marching speed of the cavalry. .
Some people have said, can’t the cavalry travel two to three hundred miles a day?
There is a conceptual confusion here.
The cavalry can indeed cover a distance of more than three hundred miles a day by rapid marching, but please note that this refers to the tactical maneuverability. , you can run such a long distance in one day, but if you run for two or three days in a row, your horse will become useless.
It is impossible to maintain such a high speed all the time.
Only when executing tactics can the cavalry be allowed to run like this.
When the cavalry is performing long-term strategic maneuvers, it is very difficult for one person and one horse to keep marching fifty kilometers a day.
However, one person and two horses can keep marching seventy-five kilometers a day.
This is still The management mechanism of the army must be very complete, and only the later Mongolian cavalry could maintain a daily march of about ninety kilometers with one person and multiple horses.
On July 12, Liu Cheng led his army from Chang'an.
It took 12 days to arrive at Wuwei City on July 25.
When he arrived, all the soldiers and horses in the army could still maintain considerable physical strength and energy, and they were still able to fight.
Being able to fight, Liu Cheng was very satisfied with the march over this distance, which directly reflected the results of his training in recent years.
The army rested in Wuwei City for three days and replenished food and grass.
Hundreds of weak horses ran away and lost their combat capabilities, so they were forced to stay in Wuwei City.
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On July 28, Liu Cheng led his army to continue setting off, heading west from Wuwei City.
After arriving at Zhangye City, they first headed west along the weak water.
After marching for three days, they entered Jiuquan County and turned north.
There are deserts on both sides of Weishui, with occasional oases.
Some barbarians live in these oases, including Huns, Qiang and Xianbei people.
This is a place where barbarians live together.
This is the road Liu Cheng took when he returned from his western patrol. road, so I am quite familiar with the road.
It took a total of eight days for Liu Cheng's army to walk from Wuwei City to Juyanze.
On the north bank of Juyanze, Liu Cheng's army rested here for three days and bought some fresh meat, cheese, fruits, and even a lot of dried meat from the herdsmen living in the oasis around Juyanze. .
Ma Chao's forward arrived three days before the main force, and he hired several smart guides who were familiar with the terrain to meet Liu Cheng.
"My lord, the three of them are herdsmen from here.
They have all led teams to trade with the Xianbei people in the north and are familiar with the road."
After listening to Ma Chao's words, Liu Cheng looked at the three guides and asked, "How many years have you lived here?
Who else is at home?"
One of the guides replied: "As for the general, our grandfathers have moved here to live here.
We all have wives and children at home.
I have the most children, four, and they have two each."
Liu Cheng asked again: "How many times have you been to the north to do business with the Xianbei people?"
Another guide replied: "We take a team to the north almost every three months to barter with the Xianbei people.
The first time I led a team was twelve years ago, and I can't even remember it now.
How many times?"
Liu Cheng nodded and said, "Okay, where have you been farthest?"
“The farthest north has been to Dragon City, and the farthest northwest has been to the Xiongnu River area.”
Liu Cheng asked again: "Do you know Zhuoxie Mountain?"
"I know, I've been there too, it's about three to four days' walk northwest from here."
Liu Chengdao: "Very good.
From now on, you will stay in the army.
Tomorrow the army will set off to the north.
The three of you will be our army's guides.
You will pay half of the deposit first.
After the war is over, you will pay the other half.
"Would you like to wait?"
"I'm willing, little man," the three of them agreed in succession
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