Three days pass in the blink of an eye.

The battle in Chiyang City has ended, and the Xiliang army won the first battle and defeated the barbarian army.

The first battle lasted three days. After defeating the Fuluo army at the city, the Western Liang army took advantage of the victory to pursue it and strived to maximize the results of the battle.

On the front battlefield under the city, the Xiliang army attacked each other from front to back, defeating more than 100,000 barbarian troops in one fell swoop.

Then Zhang Liao led the Jin Qiwei cavalry to attack Yu Fuluo Camp, and seized the gate under the command of the main general Li Zhi, and then attacked the enemy camp. He killed Yu Fuluo's army, who had lost the first battle, and abandoned the camp and fled.

When the Jinqiuwei occupied the barbarian camp, Zhou Yu led his infantry and the Iron Cavalry of the Huben Camp to kill and injure the barbarian army with vitality and pursue them closely. When the barbarian army was completely defeated and fled, Zhou Yu personally led more than 40,000 infantry and cavalry to chase and kill more than a hundred miles in one go, and drove the barbarian army into three border passes.

Afterwards, the Xiliang army did not lift their horses and did not lift their armor. After a short rest for a long time, they attacked Saibei City at night, pressing step by step, and drove all the barbarians to the two passes, Heilang Gorge and Shuofengkou.

Within the next two days, taking advantage of the defeat of the barbarian army and the morale was low, Zhou Yu directed the army to march in victory, and captured the two passes at Heilang Gorge and Shuofengkou in one breath, completely expelled the barbarian army and fled to the northern grassland outside the Beidi County.

In this battle, the Xiliang Army drove 150,000 barbarians out of Liangzhou in just three days, recovered three counties and six cities including three city gates, and won a great victory.

In the Battle of Chiyang City, the Xiliang army suppressed more than 20,000 barbarians and captured more than 10,000 barbarians alive. In the battle to attack the barbarian camp, the Jinqiu cavalry captured the enemy camp in just one and a half hours, intercepted more than 5,000 barbarians, captured more than 3,000 barbarians and more than 10,000 barbarians alive. In the subsequent pursuit, Zhou Yu led his troops to fight for three consecutive days. He killed more than 10,000 enemy soldiers, captured thousands of them alive, and collected all the cities and passes occupied by the barbarians, almost perfectly achieving the expected goals.

At the same time, the Western Liang army made great achievements. The losses of the Barbarian Army invaded for one month were minimized. In the barbarian camp alone, most of the property obtained from the robbery of the Fuluo coalition forces were seized, and more than 20,000 Han people were rescued, most of them were young and young women.

In addition, there were tens of thousands of family members brought by tribal nobles with the army in the barbarian camp, who could not escape when the camp was lost. Thus, they fell into the hands of the Han army and became prisoners of war. Tens of thousands of cattle, sheep and livestock fell together with these prisoners, and these livestock were the military rations of more than 100,000 barbarians.

In addition to the above-mentioned seizures, there were also various seizures, with a considerable number, almost seizing all the food and grass carried by the barbarian army. The Jinqi Guards captured the barbarian camp at the first time. Therefore, there was no time for the barbarian army to transfer food and grass, so that the barbarian army only escaped and had no time to transport other materials, and all fell into the hands of the Western Liang army.

According to post-war statistics, more than 30,000 Yufuluo's army was killed in battle, nearly 20,000 soldiers were captured, and more than 10,000 barbarian nobles were also captured by the Xiliang army. In other words, after this battle, more than 50,000 soldiers and horses of the barbarian army were lost, and more than 90,000 soldiers and horses were killed and killed. Among them, the Xianbei Iron Cavalry and Yufuluo's army suffered the greatest casualties, with a total loss of more than 30,000 infantry and cavalry. The Xianbei Iron Cavalry was destroyed by the Xiliang Army, and nearly half of the Baibo thieves were killed and injured.

The Southern Xiongnu's string control soldiers ranked third, with more than 7,000 cavalry losses. They did not participate in the war. All the soldiers were killed and killed by the Huben Camp and Jinqiwei on their way to escape. The Qiang cavalry suffered little, only more than 1,000 people. However, this cavalry also made the leader of the Qiang tribe feel deeply distressed. After all, he only had more than 7,000 combat cavalry, and more than 1,000 cavalry losses in one battle, leaving only more than 5,000 soldiers under his tent, greatly reducing his strength.

In comparison, among the Fuluo army, the Southern Xiongnu war cavalry was the most powerful, with more than 30,000 war cavalry, and the remaining were more than 20,000 white-bolt thieves under Yu Fuluo. The Xianbei war cavalry and Qiang cavalry combined with less than 20,000 war cavalry, thus becoming a vassal force under Yu Fuluo and their status in the coalition was much worse than before.

After this battle, the Yufuluo coalition army was severely damaged, and more than 50,000 troops were still second. The most fatal one was the heavy loss of food and grass, cattle and sheep. In addition to the temporary food and grass in passes such as the northern city of the Pass, Heilang Gorge and Shuofengkou, the barbarian army's food and grass were almost completely lost, and nearly 80% of the cattle and sheep driven by the army fell into the hands of the Xiliang army.

This means that after nearly 100,000 barbarians escaped from Beidi County, they were the first to face the problem of supplying food and grass. Now the barbarian army that lost food and grass, cattle and sheep, had nearly 100,000 infantry and cavalry chewed horses every day, and the food and grass needed was definitely not a small amount. The most fatal thing was that the barbarian army that withdrew from Beidi County was stationed in the territory of the Southern Xiongnu, and the food and grass of the various tribes of the Southern Xiongnu were not abundant at present and could not provide the needs of the army for war. As a result, the good situation of the barbarian army was gone forever. It was originally invincible to attack cities and villages, but now it was defeated in one battle, discarding its armor and losing all the food and supplies. In a blink of an eye, the barbarian army had lost its previous plundering property and slaves, and it was in a very difficult situation, which could be said to be a dilemma.

The barbarians sent troops to fight in wars differently from the Han army. They have not carried much food and grass. Most of them brought enough food and a small amount of food for war horses. Most of the food was cattle, sheep and livestock that came with the army. For a long time, barbarians had a distinctive feature of fighting, that is, fighting on the front line and grazing in the rear. The cattle, sheep and livestock that were raised with the army were the food sources they needed for daily life.

Before the war, in order to ensure the smooth progress of the battle against Liangzhou, Yu Fuluo and the leaders of various tribes raised no less than 50,000 cattle, sheep and livestock, using it as the food and grass for the army. Unexpectedly, after a big battle, the front battlefield was defeated, the camp fell, and the livestock was lost, and all of them fell into the hands of the Han army, which caused the situation faced by the barbarian army to take a sharp turn and the situation was worrying.

Compared with the difficult situation of the barbarian army, the Xiliang army was successful in its development and achieved fruitful results.

After three days of the battle, the Xiliang Army lost more than 20,000 troops, of which most of the wounded soldiers were killed. Less than 10,000 infantry and cavalry were killed in battle, and most of them were county government soldiers. The two main cavalry battalions of Huben Camp and Jinqiu Guard had lost more than 6,000 combat cavalry, of which 4,000 people were killed and injured in Huben Camp, and only more than 2,000 people were injured and killed and killed, with little loss and still strong combat power. Cao Xing's bow and crossbow camp was almost unscathed, while the county government soldiers suffered the greatest losses, with a total of more than 14,000 casualties.

Therefore, after the Xiliang army drove the barbarians out of Beidi County, the army quickly advanced. The central army moved its tent to the forefront and set up camp, and at this moment it was stationed in the Shuofengkou Pass.

After the war, Li Li, who had been guarding the rear, quickly reorganized 20,000 county government soldiers and handed them over to Zhou Yu. The remaining county government soldiers were all left in Beidi County, and all military and political affairs in the county were handed over to the prefect Li Xian and the county chief Fa Zheng to handle. The people were placed, the county government affairs were sorted out, and the city was stationed. In addition, the Huben Camp entered Shuofengkou and turned into a central army. The Jinqi Guards became the vanguard of the front army, and they drove out of the pass to confront the barbarians.

In accordance with the pre-war agreement, Zhou Yu fulfilled his promise and expelled the barbarian army within three days. In this way, after the strategic goal was realized, Li Li also fulfilled his promise and appointed Zhou Yu as the chief general of the army and took over the central army. He commanded all the wars that followed the attack on the Southern Xiongnu tribe.

For the next battle, Li Li prepared 60,000 soldiers for him, including the Huben Camp and the Jinqi Guards, a total of more than 35,000 cavalry, 20,000 county government soldiers and 5,000 bow and crossbow camps. At the same time, Li Li appointed Lu Su as the chief clerk of the army and also the leader of the army. Dian Wei was the deputy general of the central army, responsible for protecting Zhou Yu's safety; Zhang Liao was the vanguard. Xu Chu, Duan Wei was the deputy vanguard, and Chen Dao was the chief general of the rear army. All the generals were subject to Zhou Yu's dispatch.

Therefore, Li Li was truly a hand-off manager, staying in the back all day with Dian Wuxia, Ma Yunluo was together, leisurely and happy.

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Shuofengkou, Xiliang Army camp.

Just now, Li Li officially appointed Zhou Yu as the chief general, taking charge of the central army, and fully responsible for the subsequent expedition. All military decisions can be made on their own, and Zhou Yu is given the right to dispatch troops and rewards and punishments. In addition, Fa Zheng was appointed as the chief clerk of the General Office, responsible for smoothing out the government affairs of the Beidi County and the supply of food and grass in the rear, and Lu Su was the chief clerk of the front line. Assisted Zhou Yu to fight against the defeated army of Fuluo and the Southern Xiongnu.

After the meeting of the general's tent, Zhang Liao quickly followed the commander Li Zhi back to the Jinqiu Guard's garrison in the east, and then walked into the main general's tent.

After entering the tent, Li Zhi sat casually on the left side of the tent, raised his hand to signal Zhang Liao to sit beside him. When the personal soldiers in front of the tent presented hot tea, Li Zhi waved his hand to signal the personal soldiers to retreat, poured Zhang Liao a cup of hot tea and handed it to him.

"Thank you, Commander." Zhang Liao hurriedly thanked him. When he was about to get up to salute, Li Zhi raised his hand to stop him.

"Wenyuan, don't be polite." Li Zhi nodded and gestured to Zhang Liao to drink tea, and said softly: "I invite Wenyuan to come today, but I want to apologize to Wenyuan in person. Please forgive me more."

"Why did the commander say this? The last general is dull and does not know what the commander says, why should he apologize to his subordinates?" Zhang Liao asked in surprise.

Li Zhi shook his head slightly, a rare smile appeared on his face, and said with a smile: "Wenyuan is really generous and admirable, but I still want to apologize to Wenyuan for the Battle of the Barbarian Camp two days ago."

"This, the commander is too worried." Zhang Liao's expression changed slightly, he looked up at Li Zhi, bowed and said, "The commander is the commander of my camp, and it is okay to participate in the battle in the middle of the journey. The last general is willing to wait for the commander to dispatch!"

Li Zhi shook his head when he heard this and smiled: "It seems that Wen Yuan still has some ideas, but it's just because it's inconvenient to express it in person."

Zhang Liao's expression changed when he heard the voice. He was about to explain, but Li Zhi waved his hand to signal him to be at ease. Then Li Zhi continued to say, "Wen Yuan was unhappy. This is reasonable and there is no need to explain. This time, the Jin Qiwei was ordered to fight. Before the war, I stayed with the lord and did not appear among the generals on the expedition. After the battle started, I suddenly joined the war and then naturally took over the command of the lord. This move seemed natural, but in fact it was a violation of military orders and was inappropriate, so it was difficult to escape the suspicion of being distracted by the lord. Because Wen Yuan was the vanguard of the lord personally appointed, even if I, Li Zhi, was the commander of the lord, and I would obey your order. Therefore, I should apologize to Wen Yuan, please forgive me!"

After saying that, Li Zhi stood up, bowed to Zhang Liao, and apologized solemnly.

"Don't do this, the subordinates are afraid." Zhang Liao hurriedly stood up and helped Li Zhi up and said anxiously.

Li Zhi shook his head slightly, looked at Zhang Liao with a sincere expression, and said softly: "Don't Wenyuan believe in my sincerity and thinks I am hypocritical?"

"I don't dare to do so, please give me a clear guide." Zhang Liao said respectfully.

"Well, Wenyuan sat down and talked." Pulling Zhang Liao down again, Li Zhi whispered: "This time, the Jinqiu Guard was ordered to fight. Whether or not hesitated to win the battle is of great significance, so even I dare not slackew. Perhaps Wenyuan was not aware that the Jinqiu Guard had only participated in three major wars since its establishment. The first battle was the Battle of the Ba River in the past, facing the wolf cavalry under Lu Bu's command. After the war, the Jinqiu Guard suffered more than half of the casualties. The victory was as if it were defeated. The second battle was the Battle of the Southern Suburbs. In that battle, the Jinqiu Guards and the Xiliang Huben Camp had also suffered great casualties. This attack on the barbarian army was the third battle of the Jinqiu Guards."

Speaking of this, Li Zhi paused and said in a low voice: "In the first two battles, the Jinqi Guards faced the strong enemy head-on. Although they finally won, they both won a terrible victory in both battles. Therefore, in my opinion, they were poor in the battle. Compared with other battalions, they performed mediocrely and did not show the strong combat effectiveness that the lord's personal guards should have. Two years later, the Jinqi Guards went on a battle again, and this battle would definitely not be missed, otherwise our Jinqi Guards might lose the honor of the personal guards and be demoted to ordinary combat camps."

"Uh, is this happening?" Zhang Liao was stunned when he heard this and asked anxiously.

Li Li nodded slightly and whispered: "Wen Yuan doesn't know anything. During this Northern Expedition, the lord did not lead the army in person. On the surface, it seemed to be intentional to cultivate and promote young generals and counselors who have recently joined the army, but in fact it is not that simple, but has a deep meaning.

Our army currently has twelve main combat battalions, and each battalion has been fighting in small battles in two years. There is no large-scale war. The actual combat effectiveness of each battalion needs to be tested. This requires each battalion to be put into the battlefield one after another and redefine the status and equipment of each battalion based on the number of battle results. Correspondingly, after the war, the deputy commander of each battalion will face a new round of mobilization, and many current generals will no longer serve as chief general or deputy commander.

In addition, in the past two years, the weapon workshop under the General's Mansion has created a large number of new types of weapons, which are currently all stockpiled in the treasury. After the combat power of each battalion is tested, the equipment will be replaced again. At that time, the gap in combat power between each battalion will emerge, and the battle battalion with strong combat power will become stronger and stronger, and the battle battalion with slightly weak combat power will face the fate of reorganization and training.

My Jinqi Guard is a personal guard who has been with the lord for a long time and is well-equipped. According to common sense, we will not reorganize, and the position of the personal guard will not change. However, the lord has always been unconventional and always unexpected. Once the lord has poor performance, he is likely to lose his identity as the personal guard and be demoted to an ordinary war camp. If this is true, I, Li Zhi, is still the commander of the personal guard, but the Jinqi Guard soldiers will replace a group of people again. In this way, I cannot explain to the entire battalion and feel unbearable. Therefore, at the beginning of the war, I asked my lord to join the war, and I must take down the barbarian camp no matter what, and maintain the reputation of my Jinqi Guard's personal guard."

After hearing this, Zhang Liao looked nervous, nodded thoughtfully, and then lowered his head to ponder.

Indeed, in the battle to capture Yuanmen two days ago, the commander Li Zhi suddenly came out and captured the barbarian camp in one fell swoop, allowing the Jinqiuwei flag to win and have a prominent record. Then, Zhang Liao, the vanguard officer, became a supporting role, and the command power was automatically transferred to Li Zhi, which was overshadowed.

Facing such a situation, no one can accept it calmly, and it is inevitable that he will feel unhappy, and Zhang Liao is no exception. However, he is a general who takes into account the overall situation. Even if he is unhappy, he will not show it immediately and ask Li Zhi to argue in private. What's more, Li Zhi was originally the commander of the Jin Qiwei and a close minister around the lord. Therefore, Zhang Liao could only forcibly suppress his anger and continue to lead the troops to fight, showing no emotion at all, calmness and ease.

To Zhang Liao's surprise, after the general's account was held today, Li Zhi took the initiative to invite him to come to the account to discuss, apologize to him solemnly, and explain the whole story. This was the first time that Zhang Liao had a solemn conversation with the commander Li Zhi in more than two years as the deputy commander of the Jin Qiwei. It was also the first time that he had heard Li Zhi say so many things, and it was all secrets in the military. This shows that Li Zhi was heart-to-heart and made friends with him sincerely.

Therefore, after hearing Li Zhi's words, Zhang Liao's original grudge disappeared and turned to worry about the prospects of Jin Qiwei.

If Li Zhi had not disclosed the secret, Zhang Liao would have only thought that this battle was a practical opportunity for the lord Li Li to train generals and counselors, so as to promote a group of new generals. However, after Li Zhi's reminder, he suddenly realized that everything was just as Li Zhi said, and this battle was different from the past. The personal guard Jin Qiwei actually served as the vanguard of the army and no longer guarded the central army's commander. What this means is self-evident, and the new round of adjustments of the entire army officially kicked off.

This adjustment does not mean that Li Li has become suspicious of the generals of the battalions and no longer trusts them, but speaks entirely based on his strength and measures the order of equipment replacement of each battalion after the war based on combat effectiveness and record. Along with this, the generals of the battalions are re-rotating. The current situation that has lasted for two years will usher in large-scale changes, and a new round of military reorganization has begun.

In fact, Li Li's true intention had previously revealed something to Zhou Yu, Lu Su, Zhang Liao and others. I believe Zhou Yu and Lu Su had already known it. Only Zhang Liao seemed to understand but could not be sure. Now Li Zhi told him without any obscureness, in order to resolve the grudges between each other, so as not to get over time, the misunderstandings became deeper and deeper, and affect each other's relationship.

"Wen Yuan, I have already told the lord about this matter that the war achievements I have made before belong to you. But this is just the first battle. Whether you can continue the victory next is the key. I hope Wen Yuan will lead the troops to fight happily, so you must not be careless!" Just as Zhang Liao was thinking secretly, Li Zhi said softly.

"Ah! This is inappropriate, I must not accept it!" Zhang Liao waved his hand and refused immediately, with a decisive expression, and there was no room for negotiation.

Before Zhang Liao could speak, Li Zhi raised his hand and signaled that he didn't need to be impatient, and whispered: "Wen Yuan must have misunderstood. I did this not to give you the credit, but to keep this record on the Jin Qiwei. For me, I am already very content to be able to stay by the lord at all times, and other things are insignificant. But Wen Yuan and the soldiers of the entire battalion urgently need military achievements to prove their abilities, so Wen Yuan doesn't have to say much, and don't have any worries. After all, you are the vanguard of the army, and these are the credit you deserve."

"Well, well, thank you for your success. I will remember it in my heart!" Seeing that Li Zhi had made up his mind, Zhang Liao immediately stopped shirking and agreed happily. As Li Zhi said, the soldiers of the Jinqi Guard really need to show their due strength to consolidate the position of the personal guards, otherwise the current status will be in danger. As for military achievements, it is too early to say that, and the next battle to attack the Southern Xiongnu territory is the top priority. Only by continuing the previous results can they truly be considered as military achievements until the end of the war.

"Well, please Wenyuan for the war afterwards." Li Zhi nodded and said.

Zhang Liao stood up and said respectfully: "I must do my best to do my best. Please rest assured. Finally, I will leave, and the commander will rest soon."

Li Zhi nodded slightly and stood up to see him off. After Zhang Liao left, he whispered to himself: "Fortunately, the lord reminded me that otherwise the previous incident would be suspected of robbing military achievements, which invisibly delayed Wenyuan's future. It seems that necessary communication is essential. Some things can be relieved when they are told, otherwise they will leave a knot. Zhang Wenyuan is indeed a talented general, and his ability to command troops and fight is far above that of me, Li Zhi. At present, he just lacks the opportunity to stand alone. If the war goes well, the opportunity he has been waiting for for a long time will come."

—————————————— (To be continued)
Chapter completed!