Establishing a thousand-year family from the nobles of the Western Han Dynasty

Chapter 5 The Siege of Baideng
"You are truly a coward without any blood in your veins. Today's defeat is all your own fault." Xu Zhen picked up the sword on the ground and looked down at him with contempt.

Han Wangxin was just like that. He surrendered and then rebelled again in order to save his life. It is a pity that such a person with no bottom line or stance deserves death.

"Take him away and keep him under good guard, then hand him over to Your Majesty for disposal later." Seeing that he couldn't get the destiny point, Xu Zhen simply didn't waste time here. He should focus more on the Siege of Baideng and must not mess it up.

Although Chen Ping was on his side, Liu Bang was still able to escape. In fact, Maodun could not defeat the Han army at all. The 400,000 elite cavalry could not even defeat the vanguard of the Han army, and they would only be trapped to death when the large force came up.

Liu Bang chose to bribe because he was afraid that something might happen in the rear. After all, people's hearts are fickle and no one can predict.

The facts were just as Xu Zhen thought.

As expected, when Maodun was retreating, he encountered an ambush by the Han army. He was defeated and fled to Dai Valley, while the Han army remained in place.

"Your Majesty, the scouts reported that the Xiongnu have been severely damaged by the attacks of Marquis Jing and our army, and only one in ten of their elite troops remain. Now is a good opportunity to pursue the victory!"

In the Han camp, Guan Ying hurried to report.

As a general, he was of course eager to make achievements. After all, no one would complain about having too much land, and the world was about to be peaceful, so the opportunities to make military achievements were becoming fewer and fewer.

"Where is Lou Jing?" Liu Bang was silent for a moment, but still planned to test the truth again. It would be bad if it was really a trap.

"I'm here." Lou Jing stepped out.

"Take a dozen scouts and go to Dai Valley to investigate. I'm afraid this is a fraud."

"My minister obeys."

Watching the other side leave, Liu Bang's desire to send troops became stronger and stronger. After all, the Huns' performance in the past few battles was simply vulnerable. Jinghou Xu Zhen also led an army of more than 100,000 to watch outside and was not afraid of an ambush at all.

Liu Bang recognized Xu Zhen's loyalty and ability. If he wanted to rebel, he could have done so in Pengcheng. Why wait until the world was at peace?
"Guan Ying."

"The minister is here."

Liu Bang looked at him and asked, "Do you think the Xiongnu Chanyu is cheating?"

"I am short-sighted, really..."

"Just tell me when I ask you. You won't be responsible if anything goes wrong." Liu Bang naturally knew the other party's concerns. The benefits he would get if he won would not be much, but he could not afford the responsibility if he lost.

"In my humble opinion, this battle... is not a fraud." Guan Ying had no choice but to tell the truth.

"This is exactly what I want to hear. Send someone to pass on the order for the army to march out quickly, and Jinghou's troops will provide support from the side." Liu Bang waved his hand and chose to attack directly.

"I obey your command." Guan Ying withdrew.

Afterwards, more than 200,000 Han troops immediately marched northward towards Dai Valley, determined to completely resolve the siege of the Xiongnu.

About an hour later, Xu Zhen, who was stationed in Jinyang, also received the news.

"Zhou Bo ordered all departments to rush to Pingcheng." Xu Zhen also made a prompt decision and planned to wait in Pingcheng first.

"This... Prime Minister Xu, His Majesty asked me to wait on the side to provide support." Zhou Bo hesitated. This was tantamount to disobeying the emperor's order.

Xu Zhen glanced at him and said, "I said we should go to Pingcheng, so why is my military order no longer effective?"

"No... I dare not. I will arrange it right away." How could Zhou Bo dare to have any objection? Everyone knew that Marquis Jing had always been vigorous and resolute. He was not afraid of anyone except His Majesty, and he even dared not give face to the Queen.

Xu Zhen had about hundreds of thousands of Han troops under his command, most of whom were not elite. After all, he still had to consider Liu Bang's safety. However, these second-rate troops were enough.

Four hundred thousand cavalry may sound powerful, but in reality they couldn't even take down a few thousand vanguard troops because they were too mobile and difficult to catch.

.........

The main force of the Han army.

At this time, Lou Jing also rushed back without stopping. He saw at a glance that Daigu was cheating. As a hegemon who swept across the grassland, how could Maodun only have such a small force? He must have hidden all the strong men. "Your Majesty, you must not... Your Majesty, you must not do that."

Lou Jing walked quickly to Liu Bang and even forgot to salute.

"Your Majesty, please do not advance. I think the Xiongnu must be scheming. If we go, we will be ambushed!"

"Lou Qing, you are worrying too much. Even if they are hiding, what does it matter? I still have 200,000 elite soldiers, and Marquis Jing has 100,000 troops to support him. Aren't the Xiongnu trapped in a jar?"

Liu Bang did not care about this. He even planned to lead the vanguard troops personally to boost morale.

Seeing that he could not persuade her, Lou Jing chose to settle for the next best thing: "The army can go, but Your Majesty cannot go."

"Oh? If the generals can go, why can't I go?"

"As the ancients said, a gentleman does not stand on a dangerous wall! It is safest to send a good general to fight this battle."

"Don't persuade me anymore. Zi Fu and Cao Shen are not here. Who can I trust? Fan Kuai, Guan Ying and others are all very brave." He waved his hand, determined to take the lead.

Liu Bang was a man who did listen to advice, but it also depended on who was giving the advice. He would not listen to Fan Kuai's words, but would follow Zhang Liang's advice.

However, Lou Jing's qualifications were still a little shallow. If Zhang Liang, Xu Zhen and others were present, they would definitely be able to persuade him.

"Alas... I hope Marquis Jing can see through everything." Lou Jing seemed to have seen the scene where Liu Bang was surrounded.

Originally, it would not be a big deal to advance rashly. At most, the vanguard would be lost. But if Liu Bang went, it would be bad. If something really happened, the entire Han Dynasty would quickly collapse, and the Central Plains would fall into chaos again.

After all, Ying Bu, Peng Yue and other kings of different surnames have not been eliminated yet, and the meritorious officials in the court are very powerful.

Liu Bang personally led 4,000 vanguard troops to attack Pingcheng, and the army in the rear could not arrive immediately.

This was exactly what Maodun wanted. He quickly ordered tens of thousands of elite cavalry to block the attack. Liu Bang was outnumbered and had to retreat again and again.

Eventually, they were besieged on Mount Baideng by 400,000 main cavalry of the Huns, and all communications between the inside and the outside were cut off, leaving the army in the rear like a headless fly.

Liu Bang had been besieged for three days and three nights, and his food and grass were becoming increasingly scarce.

"I regret not listening to Lou Jing's advice." Being cut off from both inside and outside and with limited military manpower, even if he had natural talent, he would be powerless without the necessary resources.

"Don't be afraid, Your Majesty. In my opinion, Maodun is not in a good condition either. He should still be worried about the hundreds of thousands of troops led by Marquis Jing and Fan Kuai, Guan Ying and others."

Li Shang was more optimistic. In his opinion, the Huns' compromise was inevitable as the gap between the two sides was too big.

"I hope so." At this point, Liu Bang could only wait and see and wait for an opportunity.

.........

With Liu Bang out of contact, the Han army outside were like ants on hot pan.

"Mr. Lou, what should we do now?" Fan Kuai was very anxious. The Han Dynasty could not do without Liu Bang, and so could these meritorious officials!

If the news got out, King Huainan Ying Bu and others would not be able to remain quiet.

"Marquis Wuyang's most urgent task now is to contact Prime Minister Xu as soon as possible to make a joint plan!" Lou Jing was more willing to believe Xu Zhen.

"Prime Minister Xu? There is still no news from him." Guan Ying became even more anxious because he didn't see Xu Zhen at all.

"No news? Could it be... impossible?" Lou Jing had a very bold idea. With a large number of troops under his command and his lord fallen and lost contact, it was self-evident what this meant.

"Sir, what you mean is that Prime Minister Xu wants to...rebel!" Fan Kuai had to think so too.

(End of this chapter)