Black Fairy, the master is a female ghost

Chapter 258: Stone City Horse Release

Yan Bei walked forward with Lu Xunhuan.

He said to Lu Xunhuan, "Just like the circle you drew on the map, the Northern Barbarians attacked Beishan City, and the Southern Liang broke through Yuling Pass."

"Therefore, we must expel the northern barbarians as soon as possible, return to the south, and fight against the invasion of Southern Liang."

After the two men walked a few dozen steps, the soldiers came over with a man in his sixties.

Yan Bei asked the uncle, "What was the situation at that time? How did the northern barbarians cross the river west of the city?"

The uncle said, "The northern barbarian army rushed down from the mountain pass and reached the west side of the city. We all saw it. Their cavalry ran very fast and quickly seized the downstream sluice gate and released the water."

"The Beishan City defenders fought with the northern barbarians for a long time over the sluice gate, but ultimately failed to reclaim it."

"When the defenders realized they couldn't stop the enemy from crossing the river, they told the people to flee, and so we did."

After hearing this, Yan Bei said, "The sluice gate is so important, why don't you send a large number of troops to guard it?"

The uncle said, "There hasn't been a war for many years, maybe everyone has relaxed."

Lu Xunhuan took over the conversation: "The enemy came unexpectedly, and it is indeed difficult to defend against them."

"The key lies in the location of the sluice gate. Is the defensive position reasonable? Can it block the enemy troops so that they cannot even get close to the sluice gate?"

Yan Bei said to the uncle, "You go."

After the uncle left, Yan Bei said, "No more rest, let's go."

Another thousand cavalrymen set out quickly, with the sound of horse hooves, advancing westward.

After running about three hundred miles and passing Liangsha City, the horses were a little tired.

A soldier who went to scout came back and said, "Report, the Northern Barbarians have captured Beishan City. Some cavalry are advancing eastward. Their next target should be Stone City."

Yan Bei asked, "Where are the reinforcements that arrived earlier?"

The soldier reported, "Some of the soldiers from Shitou City who went to support Beishan City were killed, and some were forced to retreat. The soldiers from Jingyang City and Liangsha City who came to support have all entered Shitou City. Currently, Shitou City has 70,000 defenders."

Yan Bei said to Lu Xunhuan, "Hurry up and get to Stone City as soon as possible."

Lu Xun Huan suggested, "Your Highness, I will go, you wait for the rear army."

Yan Bei asked, "Why?"

Lu Xunhuan said, "I have experience in defending cities. I will go and hold the city. You wait for the rear army to arrive, and then advance towards Stone City."

"Be careful not to pounce too aggressively; proceed steadily and cautiously."

"The Northern Barbarian Cavalry are numerous and powerful. Try not to give them the chance to get close. Shoot them from a distance if possible."

Yan Bei thought about it, took out the tiger talisman and handed it to Lu Xunhuan.

Then, he called the general who had gone to Taiqing Gate to invite Lu Xunhuan.

"You will follow Lu Chenglong to Stone City first. Lu Chenglong will lead the entire army and organize the defense of the city. I will reunite with you after the rear army arrives."

The general saluted and said, "As you command."

Lu Xunhuan said to Yan Bei, "Don't rest, your thousand cavalrymen! Cut down some trees right here and make some chevaux de frise (barricades) immediately. Bring them with the army. They might be very useful in resisting the enemy cavalry."

Yan Bei nodded: "Okay, go ahead, and make sure you hold on for ten days."

An hour later, Lu Xunhuan and the general rushed all the way into the Stone City.

It took only an incense stick of time for them to enter the Stone City when the Northern Barbarians' cavalry came in overwhelming numbers amid the rolling dust.

But when the enemy cavalry arrived, they did not immediately besiege the city, but instead concentrated far away outside the west gate.

Lu Xunhuan stood on the west wall and watched for a moment before saying to the general, "The enemy's vanguard has arrived, but seeing our strong defenses, they're hesitant to attack rashly. They're waiting for the siege equipment to arrive."

The general asked, "How do we respond?"

Lu Xun Huan stroked his chin and turned to look at the towering mountains to the north of the city. "Order those sentry posts on the mountain to be well guarded. Don't give the enemy any chance to launch a surprise attack."

The general nodded and said "OK", then turned around to make arrangements.

There are garrisons on the mountains north of the city, at key passes, and in dangerous places.

It is to guard against the enemy coming from the mountain, which is in a dominant position, so we cannot afford to lose.

Fortunately, the mountains in Stone City are basically made of stones, with very few trees.

The enemy wanted to use the route up the mountain without any obstruction, and it would be difficult for them to remain undetected.

There was a bustle of activity on the city walls, with soldiers coming and going, carrying arrows and stones.

Lu Xun Huan watched for a while, and when the general returned, he said to him, "Send someone to notify all the blacksmith shops in the city to forge tens of thousands of iron spikes and spread them outside the city."

The general immediately understood what was going on and turned around: "Okay, arrange it right away."

The distance from Beishan City to Shitou City is 150 miles. The cavalry runs fast and can reach the destination in two hours at most.

But the siege equipment carried by the infantry were all heavy stuff.

In addition, the food and fodder for the Northern Barbarian army needs to be transported along with the army, which will not be so fast, at least two days.

Lu Xunhuan calculated that the northern barbarians would not attack the city tonight or even throughout the day tomorrow.

Cavalry cannot climb the city wall without siege equipment.

So, they either had to wait or bypass the Stone City and go to the next city.

But when they go to the next city, they will face the same situation.

Therefore, we naturally had to wait until we captured Stone City before moving eastward.

Outside the west city gate, in the distance, the Northern Barbarians' cavalry generals discussed for a while, then moved together and set up camp in the fields.

If we camp near the mountain, we are likely to be ambushed by arrows shot by soldiers from the Eastern Yan mountain.

So they stayed away from the mountains and went to the wilderness, not giving the Eastern Yan army a chance to launch a surprise attack.

The enemy did not attack the city for the time being, so the defenders of Stone City did not move.

The troops on the city walls and on the hills to the north were on high alert.

The city was bustling with activity, with people running around everywhere.

Stone City was originally just a small military garrison town with a population of no more than 150,000.

But tens of thousands of troops arrived all at once, and a large number of people retreated from Beishan City, most of whom stayed in Shitou City, causing the population of Shitou City to skyrocket.

After watching from the city wall for a while, Lu Xunhuan took several generals down the wall to inspect the situation in the city.

"Yanbei wants us to hold out for ten days. Is there enough food in the city?"

A general replied, "The food stored in the city is enough to feed a hundred thousand soldiers for three months. Even with the influx of civilians, we can hold out for ten days without any problem."

Lu Xunhuan nodded: "Is there enough water?"

The general replied, "There are more than 300 wells in the city, which should be enough."

Lu Xunhuan looked up at the sky and said, "Fortunately, it's the melting season now. The water from the snowy mountains is constantly seeping down into the ground. If it were the coldest winter, I'm afraid we'd have no choice but to eat snow."

He then asked, "How many arrows are there?"

The general replied, "Fifty thousand bows and five million arrows."

Lu Xun Huan walked to a tailor shop and stopped. "We must not only drive out the northern barbarians, but also strive to annihilate the invaders completely, so that they will not be able to invade us again within the next twenty years."

The general said, "Most of them are cavalry. They come and go quickly. If we lose the battle, they will run away quickly and it will be difficult for us to catch them. It will be difficult to wipe them out completely."

Lu Xunhuan touched the cloth and said, "Cavalry relies on horses..."

"As the ancients said, when shooting a man, shoot the horse first..."

He asked, "Are there any sick horses in our city?"

The general replied, "Yes, in spring, with alternating cold and warm weather, some horses caught colds."

Lu Xun Huan nodded and said, "Pick fifty horses that are sick with colds. The more seriously ill, the better."

"And we need male horses. Wrap their hooves with cloth, quietly take them out of the city, and release them into the wilderness, so they can make friends with the northern barbarian horses."

The general nodded and said, "Okay, do it immediately."

In Stone City, night gradually deepens.

The city walls are still heavily guarded.

In the city, most of the people were asleep, only the blacksmith shops were still working all night to forge iron spikes.

The east gate of the city opened silently.

Fifty soldiers quietly took fifty sick horses that had caught a cold, left the city, and headed towards the wilderness.

The hooves of these horses were all wrapped with cloth to prevent them from making any noise when walking, and they also had muzzles on their mouths to prevent them from neighing.

The soldiers sneaked into the wilderness with their horses, about a hundred feet away from the northern barbarians' camp.

Then he took the muzzle, removed the cloth wrapped around the horse's four hooves, and let the horse go.

After the horse was released, it heard the cries of horses from the Northern Barbarians' camp and automatically went over there.

The Northern Barbarian soldiers on guard saw a group of horses approaching in the darkness.

They thought that the Dong Yan people had fled in such a panic that even their horses were lost, so a group of ownerless horses arrived.

They did not realize the harm and were quite happy about it.

Because they came too fast, the military supplies behind them could not catch up.

Now a group of horses has arrived. That’s great. I can find them tomorrow and slaughter them to have meat to eat.

Not only did they not drive them away, but they took the initiative to move forward and quickly drove all the horses into the camp.

These fifty sick horses were extremely excited after entering the herd of tens of thousands of horses of the Northern Barbarians.

They were all stallions, and even though they had a severe cold, it did not stop them from looking for the mares from the Northern Barbarians.

After a short while, they all merged into the herd of northern barbarian horses.