In the winter of the fourteenth year of Jianyuan, the Xiongnu army came to attack the city, and the general Ji Jiu led 80,000 troops out of the city to meet the enemy. After three days of fierce fighting, the Xiongnu retreated ten miles and set up camp at Xiemapo.
Winter has just entered, and it shouldn't be so cold, but this year's sky is a bit weird. After the Xiongnu retreated from the army, it snowed heavily for three days, and the first snow was more than a month earlier than in previous years. I don't know what it means.
Shen Jue brought someone to meet Ji Jiu, but it was Shen Hai.
Shen Hai saluted with a smile, which is the etiquette of subordinates. Ji Jiu was stunned for a moment before hesitatingly said: "My grain and grass officer, could it be you?"
Shen Haidao: "The new official takes office, please take care of the general."
Ji Jiu didn't expect that the emperor would transfer Shen Hai to be his grain and grass officer, and at the same time felt relieved that this was an overkill. With Shen Hai here, this battle will last for ten years, and he is not afraid that the army will run out of food.
Of course, at the same time, he naturally thought that Shen Hai came here to supervise the army for the emperor.
But at this time, Ji Jiu didn't want to think about it. No matter how vicious the emperor did in these years, he didn't treat him badly. He always trusted and relied heavily on him. This is irrefutable.
When the snow stopped, Ji Jiu took Shen Hai up to the tower, climbed high and looked into the distance, it was another white world.
Ji Jiu remained silent for a long time, staring into the distance in a daze. Shen Hai stood behind him, looked at it for a long time, and then said: "General, don't worry about food and grass."
Hearing the sound, Ji Jiu turned around and asked, "Really?"
Shen Hai immediately replied: "Really!"
"What if I want to fight for ten years?" Ji Jiu asked, smiling, making it hard to tell the truth of this sentence.
Shen Hai was stunned for a moment, this time he couldn't be straightforward, ten years, ten years of war, how many people died and how much money was spent. He couldn't give a straightforward answer.
Ji Jiu saw that he was in trouble, so he patted him on the shoulder and said, "You're joking, why take it seriously. How can the Huns afford us to consume energy for ten years? They'll just withdraw their troops and stop playing with us."
Shen Hai heaved a sigh of relief, and then he calmed down and said, "How will the general fight?"
Ji Jiu said: "If you were you, how would you fight?"
"Our army has elite soldiers and strong generals. Since the southern region was pacified, we have been working hard all these years. We are only waiting for this battle." Shen Hai said, "It only takes the generals to go out of the city to meet the enemy, at most one month, and they can be repelled."
Ji Jiu listened, but didn't speak.
Shen Hai didn't get any response, knowing something was wrong, he asked Ji Jiu: "How is the general going to fight?"
"Don't fight." Ji Jiu dropped the word very simply, obviously thinking it over for a long time, and when he asked, he immediately threw it out.
Shen Hai's blood was hot, and the two words were poured down like ice water, and his whole body was immediately chilled. Standing blankly on the city gate, he didn't understand what Ji Jiu meant by "no fight". I don't know whether this answer should be told to the emperor.
What exactly does it mean? Shen Hai wanted to ask Ji Jiu, but when he looked up, he found that Ji Jiu had already gone down the tower.
This night Ji Jiu sent people to the imperial city and asked the emperor for some people.
A month later, the people he wanted arrived, and Ji Jiu took Shen Jue to pick them up in person. When the two met, they couldn't help laughing out loud. They patted each other on the shoulder and said, "Long time no see."
Thirty-seven riders were all the team that entered the desert that year. Fifty people entered the desert, and only thirty-seven people came back with them.
Ji Jiu had long wanted to take these people from the emperor's side to his own, but he couldn't think of any good reason, and now he still has no reason, only said that if he wanted to use it, he would come.
Anyway, even Shen Hai has become his food and grass officer, presumably there are more than 30 people in the area, and the emperor will not be reluctant.
Of course the emperor would not be reluctant. This battle is for his country, he is very generous.
However, Ji Jiu's actions made many people in the army suspicious, not knowing what he wanted to do.
Since the Xiongnu army came to the city until now, the general Ji Jiu has only sent out troops once, personally ordered the troops, fought for three days and three nights before returning, and then the Xiongnu army retreated ten miles.
The Huns retreated because they lost the first battle, and it was also a test. After a round, the generals of both sides can understand the information they need, such as combat power, morale, and the advantages and disadvantages of arms.
Since Ji Jiu returned to the city, he ordered the city gates to be closed tightly, only defending and not attacking.
After the heavy snow a month ago, the Huns regrouped and attacked the city again. One day and one night, the city was impregnable, and the Huns retreated back to Xiemapo again.
Ji Jiu didn't even bother to chase after him, the city gate was still closed. Just not a single soldier.
In the past month, the Xiongnu army, large and small, has attacked the city for nearly ten times. Except for defense, these tens of thousands of soldiers and horses don't know what to do. Obviously, the morale is high, and the soldiers are ready, why not fight
Therefore, as soon as Ji Jiu called the generals to discuss matters, there were some fiery generals who immediately waited in the meeting hall. I'm afraid that this increasingly treacherous and unpredictable general will go back on his word and say nothing about it.
Even Shen Hai, the food officer, rushed to the meeting hall, found the most inconspicuous place, and waited quietly.
After a while, everyone arrived, and Ji Jiu walked to the main seat on time, and spread out the city defense map.
"The south gate and the north gate, and the east and west gates, there have been wars recently," Ji Jiu glanced at everyone, and said slowly: "I have calculated that since the first battle, every siege battle, the enemy's losses The number of soldiers is far greater than ours. Why?"
"Because they are not good at siege." Ji Jiu asked and answered, and then slowly said: "The Huns ride horses and hunt. They are short and strong, and they are best at fighting on horseback. In recent years, we have focused on training archers, and they all pierced Yang with hundreds of steps. In a siege, far more men are killed by bows and arrows than by rolling stones."
"So we took advantage of the siege battle." Ji Jiu concluded, "Their morale is almost exhausted."
Then he sat on the chair, raised his hand and said, "Say, how do you fight next?"
General Cheng Yue came out and said: "Since the exhaustion is almost the same, we should send out soldiers and defeat them in one go."
Someone retorted: "The general said that the Huns are good at riding and shooting on horseback. Even if we send out a large army, we may not get cheap."
Another said: "You have a long-standing ambition."
Another said: "It's true."
There was a sudden quarrel.
Ji Jiu leaned over the desk, clenched his fists with both hands, doing nothing, gnawing his own fists. Occasionally interjected, pointing to the left and saying: "You are right." After a while, he said to the right: "Well, you are right." So the originally polite dispute became more and more explosive under his fanning.
Seeing that the two sides were about to fight, Ji Jiu stood up, propped his hands on the table, and said calmly: "You are all right."
The two sides stopped arguing and turned their heads to look at their general.
Ji Jiu tilted his head, squinted his eyes and smiled, and said, "How about that, where is Shen Jue?"
Holding the hilt of the sword, Shen Jue stepped forward and bowed: "General."
"You and General Cheng Yu, with 3,000 soldiers, are going to visit the Huns army tonight," Ji Jiu said.
Shen Jue said, "Yes."
Cheng Yu was stunned for a moment, and immediately shouted: "Three thousand? That's more than that for cuddling grass and beating rabbits!"
Ji Jiu said: "It's just hugging grass and beating rabbits." He added: "The Xiongnu army came from thousands of miles away. We thought we would face a fierce battle. In the end, we stood still and they couldn't attack the city. We are already very passive. Go and stimulate He, so that they can continue to attack the city tomorrow."
Sitting back in his seat, Ji Jiu smiled, and his voice suddenly had a vicious tone: "I just want them, but I can't beat them, and I'm not reconciled to withdrawing!"
What he said was so vicious that the entire audience fell silent for a moment.
Shen Hai in the corner couldn't sit still anymore, he squeezed to the front, and said, "Then how does the general want to fight?"
"I want them to use up all the wealth they have accumulated over the years." Ji Jiu said lightly, "Use up their food and morale, and then eat their meat."
To preserve one's own strength to the greatest extent, let as many soldiers as possible live in this war, and finally, use the preserved strength to drive them all to death!
Ji Jiu had already made up his mind, because he was afraid that the Huns would be too cautious and would not attack the city again to consume their troops.
Ji Jiu looked at Shen Jue and Cheng Yu: "Wrap the horseshoes in cloth tonight, and put on light clothes. After an hour, I will lead people to meet them. No matter how many people are killed or how many soldiers are lost, there is only one hour."
The two took orders and stepped back.
Looking at the city defense map in front of him, Ji Jiu stretched out his finger, slowly rubbed the lines on the map, and said, "One year. They will retreat after one year, and it's time for us to attack."
The beginning of the war is different for each general.
For Ji Jiu, everything has just begun.
At night, three thousand soldiers and horses quietly left the city, ran ten li, and broke into the Huns' barracks. Because of the freezing weather, their sudden appearance seemed to be in a dream. The enemy general Wu La'er desperately commanded to meet the enemy, and as soon as the situation turned around, these thousands of people withdrew. Wu La'er led the troops in pursuit, and halfway through, men and horses rushed out from the left and right sides, accompanied by the torches lit up in the middle of the night, and the flames raged in an instant.
The thousands of people who broke into the army disappeared into the main force in an instant. Wu Laer immediately turned around and withdrew his troops. In the early morning of the next day, the spies came to report that the Huns retreated another 20 miles.
Half a month later, the siege horn sounded again, and the suffocated Huns attacked the city again.
Ji Jiu boarded the tower, looked at the dense crowd of people below, and finally smiled. The commander of the enemy army, Youxian King Yelu Deer, was in the center of the army, and he saw the general on the tower from a distance on his horseback.
Ji Jiu also saw it.
Hun royal family. Ji Jiu watched silently, telling himself that he had to wait and not gamble with the lives of the soldiers.
One year, another year, when they retreat, it's time to send out their own troops.