Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 90: Coveting the Huns’ Horses

A few days later, more than 20,000 Yuan troops from the direction of Yecheng moved to the other side of the river and stationed their camps over a distance of four or five miles.

Sometimes you can see groups of soldiers drawing water from the river, and there are so many people that the water becomes turbid.

Liu Bei led the cavalry and looked at the distance, blocking the sunlight with his hands.

We also saw a group of short and sturdy people with big heads and round faces wearing loose robes and bows and arrows tied around their waists. They were clearly separated from the Han people and were grazing livestock in groups by the river.

The livestock are mainly horses and sheep, mixed with mules and donkeys.

This is the grass growing season, and driving the livestock out to forage can also save food and grass.

Liu Bei pointed to the opposite river and asked a scout who had lived in Bingzhou: "Are those Xiongnu people?"

"Envoy, they are indeed Xiongnu people. Judging from the range of their grazing, this group of Xiongnu people should be from a large tribe. In Bingzhou, a Xiongnu family can have at least eight horses, more than ten cows, and thirty or forty sheep to support the family's living needs."

"From this it seems that there should be no less than 2,000 Huns on the opposite bank of the river, and this is just one place."

The scout's face looked somewhat solemn.

It would be difficult to fight against too many cavalrymen wearing leather armor, not to mention that they were fighting in Jizhou.

When Liu Bei heard this, he suddenly became very interested and asked eagerly: "Could it be that the Xiongnu Chanyu Luandi Yufuluo is also on the other side of the river?"

Since the Han Dynasty, all those who like to achieve great things have had an extraordinary interest in the Chanyu of various ethnic groups, especially the title of the Chanyu of the Xiongnu, which makes people excited and itchy.

After hundreds of years of war with the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu emerged later.

Liu Bei looked out for a while and asked again, "Why are there only men and no women herding?"

"Your Excellency, you may not know that in the Xiongnu tribe, cattle are taken care of by women who stay behind in the tents, while horses are driven to graze far away by men. There is a distinction between men and women."

The Sentinel explained.

Liu Bei and his men continued to look out at the river bank for a while, watching the running sheep and horses with envy.

I really want it, but unfortunately I don’t have cavalry. Even if I defeat the Huns, it will be difficult to capture so many livestock.

What's more, it is in Jizhou, which will only benefit Yuan Benchu ​​for nothing.

Only after eliminating Yuan Shao could we start to deal with the Huns in Bingzhou.

After living in Bingzhou for so long, it’s time for him to give something in return, otherwise I will lead my army to drive him back to Mobei.

At this time, cavalrymen from Neihuang County in the west came with a fast message, and after searching for a long time, they finally found Liu Shijun on the river bank.

After opening Guan Yu's letter, Liu Bei soon couldn't help laughing. It turned out that Yuan Shao had transferred 16,000 soldiers from the north, preparing to cross the river from Henei County to besiege Neihuang County, and the big flag under his banner was clearly flying a flag with the word "Yan" in it.

Guan Yu speculated in the letter: "I heard that the only general with the surname Yan in Hebei is Yan Liang, a brave general who repeatedly defeated the enemy in the battle with Gongsun Bogui. This person should be the one leading the troops to attack Neihuang County."

The reason why Liu Bei smiled was that he felt there was a kind of fate between them.

Otherwise, why did they choose to attack Neihuang, where Yunchang and Yide were stationed, instead of coming to Fanyang?

At present, Yuan Shao's troops are divided into three groups. On the other side of the river are Yan Liang and Wen Chou, and in the direction of Guantao and Yuancheng may be Qu Yi.

Liu Bei was not too worried about the safety of Neihuang. One Liangdu Camp and more than 3,600 auxiliary soldiers transferred from behind were enough to defend the city.

On the contrary, I am a little worried that Gongsun Zan, who is far away in Youzhou, will allow Yuan Shao to continue to recruit troops from the north, and Gongsun Bogui will not suffer another defeat. Will it become precarious under the joint attack of the Wuhuan people, Xianbei people and Youzhou Mu Liu Yu?

Taking into account the 30,000 troops exploring in the east, Yuan Shao has mobilized more than 60,000 infantry and cavalry, and more than 400 ships are transporting food, fodder and military equipment on various rivers. It seems that he has not yet exerted his full strength.

Jizhou is worthy of the reputation of being able to support the army for ten years with grain by opening the treasury. At this moment, those wealthy and powerful families in Hebei have not yet taken out their wealth to help Yuan Benchu.

No wonder Cao Cao later moved to Yecheng, Hebei was really too rich.

Liu Bei cursed inwardly: "You rich dog."

Then he led the knights back to Fanyang County, riding their horses and whipping them, and handed the whips and reins of the war horses to the guards at the door.

After a slight nod, he walked straight across the courtyard, sat down in the main hall, took out a scroll of bamboo slips and prepared to write a reply to Yunchang, asking him to stay calm. The current movements of Yuan's army in front and to the west were most likely used to confuse the military situation.

A deliberately created battlefield fog.

If they were really the main force, they should have built a pontoon bridge to cross the river and attack the city by now. How could they have lingered on the other side of the river and wasted food and supplies?

The elite troops of Yuan’s army should hide in the west and wait for the arrival of baggage and weapons from behind.

I just don't know whether Yuan Shao wants to attack one county in Dongjun to cut off his food supply, or take the risk of going deep into the hinterland and setting up camp between Wei County and Dongwuyang to directly separate the Qingzhou army, wait until the food supply is completely cut off to make it an isolated army, and then send a large army to fight a decisive battle.

Although this method has great benefits, it is also slightly risky. If the Yin'an County garrison builds a camp wall to cut off the road, and the Dongwuyang defenders also outflank them, then the commander of this army of 30,000 will become the second Zhao Kuo.

There was no way to escape on three sides, and the army was cut off by the Yellow River in the middle, and the retreat was blocked by deep walls and strong fortifications at the back. There was no choice but to surrender.

However, Yuan Shao had rarely fought such risky battles, and rarely fought desperately when he had sufficient capital.

While Liu Bei was thinking in his mind, he wrote a reply to Guan Yu with his bold pen, sealed it with clay seal and handed it to the person sent by Yunchang.

He also used his seal to dispatch the Tiger and Leather Cavalry to Fanyang. Without Zilong's cavalry, it was really difficult to fight.

Since Yuan Shao has no intention of attacking Pingyuan for the time being, he might as well transfer Zhao Yun over as well.

Just as he was about to use the seal, Guo Jia came in quickly from outside, bowed quickly and reported: "Sir, General Yuan Qu Yi led his troops to quietly go north and intends to take Liaocheng by surprise."

Liu Bei hurriedly asked, "How is Zijing?"

"Don't worry, sir. The city is safe and sound. I think it will be okay to capture the prefect. Qu Yi failed in his first attack on the city and is now leading his troops to besiege it. This letter was written by the magistrate of Le County and sent by express horse." Guo Jia comforted him.

Liu Bei felt relieved and asked Qian Zhao to follow the army to fight Gongsun Du, who was also familiar with the battle of defending the city.

As long as the city is not taken by surprise at the beginning and people are on guard later, it will be useless even if Qu Yi leads 30,000 people to attack the city.

Last year, Cao Mengde had accumulated countless wooden and mud stones in Liaocheng, Dongjun. If it had not been for the disastrous defeat, the city of Liaocheng would have surrendered.

Otherwise, Liu Bei's tunnel digging would be blocked for ten days or half a month, and the counties in Dongjun would have time to respond.

"Sir, Yuan Shao has three armies in plain sight. We might as well take this opportunity to completely defeat one of them," Guo Jia suggested.

Liu Bei took out Guan Yu's letter and handed it to him, then said with a smile: "In the west, Yan Liang is leading his army to cross the river and attack Neihuang. What do you think, Feng Xiao?"

"Yan Liang from Hebei is a trusted military commander and confidant of Yuan Benchu. If he dares to cross the river to be killed, he must not be let off." Guo Jia handed the letter back to Liu Bei and took out instant noodles from his waist to drive away mosquitoes.

He was sweating and mosquitoes and flies started to target him.

(End of this chapter)