I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 343 Tan Shihuai has a bold idea

Tan Shihuai knew very well that he must not rashly launch an attack on a powerful enemy when the internal situation was unstable; otherwise, once he suffered a defeat, he would have no chance to recover.

His margin for error was still too low, which stemmed from the inherent weaknesses of the Xianbei tribal alliance, which was incomparable to the Han Empire. Just one defeat shook his position, a fact that made Tan Shihuai extremely resentful.

He regarded Yuan Shu, who claimed to wipe out the Xianbei, as his mortal enemy. While reorganizing his internal affairs, he also planned a retaliatory attack on Bingzhou.

However, he was not in a hurry to retaliate because he knew that he did not have the ability to make a comeback after a second failure. If he failed a second time, he would face death and his regime would collapse.

Therefore, he was very careful and cautious.

While conquering certain Qiang tribes in the western region, he arranged for his trusted confidants to infiltrate southward into Bingzhou to investigate the specific situation there and to inquire about Yuan Shu from Han merchants who came to the grasslands to do business.

The result naturally left him with mixed feelings of resentment, agreement, and worry.

His resentment was understandable, because he knew for certain that Yuan Shu had ordered a halt to the import of ironware into the Xianbei, meaning that the entire Bingzhou region would no longer sell ironware to the Xianbei, thus losing a major channel for the Xianbei to acquire ironware.

It is said that this decree was issued by Yuan Shuyi a few months after he arrived in Bingzhou. He also carried out a purge within the government to eliminate many disobedient people and killed them all, so that the decree could be successfully implemented.

Although some Xianbei tribes in the central region still demanded that these merchants provide ironware and were willing to pay extra for it, the merchants still said that it was the cruelest thing in the world to earn money but not be able to spend it, and that life was more important than money.

This governor was able to wipe out the Wang clan of Taiyuan completely, so who in the entire Bingzhou would he not dare to kill?
Not to mention that business travelers must follow a fixed route from departure to return and undergo as many as six or seven checks by the military, so there is absolutely no possibility of getting away with it.

This is why Tan Shihuai felt resentful.

As for identification, that's a delicate matter.

As a leader, Tan Shihuai also strongly agreed with the action of vigorously suppressing and eliminating internal enemies, which is very necessary for a leader.

His rise to power was based on military achievements, but he could not always rely on military achievements to establish everything. He also needed to demonstrate his power by killing people and create an atmosphere of terror, so that this atmosphere of terror would become part of his power.

So before launching his revenge campaign, Tan Shihuai first turned on his own people, killing some and creating an atmosphere of terror.

From this perspective, Tan Shihuai recognized Yuan Shu as a qualified ruler, believing that only a ruler would and should do such a thing.

Finally, there's the worry.

It is worrying that Yuan Shu was a competent ruler.

Yuan Shu's prohibition on Bingzhou selling ironware to the Xianbei will inevitably affect the quantity of ironware available to the Xianbei and may even lead to price increases through other channels, raising the cost for the Xianbei to acquire ironware, which is very disadvantageous.

The simultaneous occurrence of these two events has already put Tan Shihuai in a difficult position.

The third point is even more fatal.

Tan Shihuai's scouts, who had been sent to various places in Bingzhou, discovered that the Han people had built large settlements in the northern counties of Bingzhou. Each settlement had wide and high walls, covered a very large area, and had a large population.

They also noticed that the low, dilapidated cities were being renovated, and the area seemed to have become a large construction site, with Han Chinese working hard everywhere.

This situation, coupled with the information Tan Shihuai learned from the merchants, plunged him into deep worry.

These merchants told him that Yuan Shu was extremely dissatisfied with the current state of the border defenses in Bingzhou and was preparing to build a completely new border defense system according to his own plan, mainly by building large-scale farms and repairing cities as settlements.

Moreover, it is said that Yuan Shu also seized a large number of people and land, as well as a lot of wealth, from many wealthy people. Yuan Shu invested all these resources into this large-scale construction project, which seems to indicate that he is going to take a more resolute defensive approach.

Meanwhile, Tan Shihuai heard that Yuan Shu had begun recruiting warriors in Bingzhou to serve as cavalry.

These two events, when put together, conjured up a picture in Tan Shihuai's mind.

If the Xianbei cavalry were to invade southward again in the future, they would face cities protected by higher walls and farms protected by equally tall walls. The Han people inside would have sufficient weapons and food to hold their ground, while the Xianbei cavalry, lacking the ability to attack cities, would be very helpless in this situation.

Those scattered rural areas that were easy to rob no longer exist, and small settlements with poor defenses are hard to find. It seems that all the Han people have been gathered up by Yuan Shu and placed behind defensive walls, with someone always on guard and watching over them.

They either had to bypass these cities and farms and continue south to try their luck in the interior, or they would have to fight these defensive barriers to the death.

However, this was not a sure thing. The Han people were clearly not the type who only knew how to defend and not how to attack. Yuan Shu's recruitment of cavalry was an obvious sign of taking the initiative to attack.

Previously, when Hulanji's troops marched south, they were decisively defeated by the Han cavalry under Yuan Shu's command. Those who managed to escape described in tears how those cavalrymen were all heavily armored and extremely elite, far beyond the capabilities of the Xianbei cavalry to confront head-on. If such cavalry increased in number, the Xianbei cavalry would have to contend with cities and manors that were difficult to attack, while also guarding against the ever-present threat of Han cavalry.

What should we do?

Tan Shihuai fell into deep thought, but the more he pondered, the more helpless he felt.

Yuan Shu utilized the Han people's original advantages and made up for their original disadvantages with his strengths.

Moreover, in terms of the situation between the two sides, the Han people had no need for the Xianbei people, but the Xianbei people had a great need for the Han people. Since they could not obtain trade routes, they could only go south to plunder. However, when they went south to plunder, they had to face the defense line carefully constructed by Yuan Shu.

In that case, wouldn't there be absolutely no way out?
No, it can't be said that there's absolutely no way out, because this situation has only occurred in Bingzhou, not in Youzhou and Liangzhou. As long as they abandon Bingzhou and continue to intensify their plundering of Youzhou and Liangzhou, it's not that they can't make a living.

but……

If Youzhou and Liangzhou followed suit, concentrating their population and defenses, and then training cavalry for a counterattack...

Is it even possible to live like this?

Tan Shihuai neither knew nor dared to predict. He only clearly understood that, at present, Bingzhou was by no means a good target for attack. If he were to be defeated again, he would not know how many people he would have to kill to stabilize his position.

Considering his dominant position and power, Tan Shihuai decided to postpone the attack on Bingzhou this autumn and winter and next spring, and instead focus his main strategy on Youzhou. What he could not obtain in Bingzhou, he would make up for in Youzhou.

We need to win more battles against the Han people and plunder more resources to make up for our shortcomings.

If the Han Chinese don't have enough, then they'll plunder some from the Wuhuan, Goguryeo, and Buyeo people.

Moreover, considering Yuan Shu's large-scale defense plan, Tan Shihuai also began to think about whether to follow the example of the Han people and form a force with siege capabilities. Otherwise, they would always be powerless against the Han people's strong cities, which was really too frustrating.

However, it would be somewhat difficult to train the Xianbei people, who were not good at infantry combat, in infantry tactics, and he did not think it was worthwhile to use skilled horsemen as cannon fodder in sieges.

So, should we try to plunder Han people to build a Han army?
A bold idea suddenly popped into Tan Shihuai's mind.

However, he quickly rejected this idea.

Firstly, he did not believe he could plunder so many Han Chinese to build an army.

Secondly, the Han people are more civilized and more intelligent and cunning. If an army composed mainly of Han people were to be formed within the Xianbei, it would be questionable whether he could control it.

With that thought in mind, he turned his gaze eastward, toward the Goguryeo and Buyeo people.

When he was conquering the east, he heard that the Goguryeo and Buyeo people could build cities, attack and defend them, smelt iron, and had frequent contact with the Han people. They were not as smart as the Han people, but they were not as cunning either.

Moreover, their country was relatively small and weak, so it shouldn't have been difficult for the Xianbei people to invade and conquer their territory.

If they could use them to form an infantry force, then the Xianbei people would have the ability to attack cities.

At that time, they will be able to attack cities and fight in the field, greatly increasing their strength. Wouldn't they then be able to fight Yuan Shu?
With this in mind, Tan Shihuai became excited and immediately began preparations for the plunder of Youzhou and the attack on Buyeo and Goguryeo.

He quickly ordered the western and central Xianbei to raise their own troops, organize themselves, and assemble at the royal court in Tanhan Mountain. He would lead this army to conquer the Goguryeo and Buyeo people, and to seize more living space for the Xianbei.

Yuan Shu was unaware of Tan Shihuai's grand plan for the time being. He was currently focusing his energy on large-scale construction and the reintegration of power within Bingzhou. These two matters occupied most of his energy and brought unprecedented development opportunities to Bingzhou.

At the same time, he continued to send people to gather information on the grasslands, asking about intelligence from traveling merchants and inquiring about the latest movements of the Xianbei. As the cold winds of the third year of Zhengshi began to blow, he received some news that surprised him.

The Xianbei are gathering their main army, aiming eastward; they are advancing eastward, not southward.

Previously, during the spring and summer, Yuan Shu learned that the Xianbei people were attacking westward, threatening Liangzhou and some Qiang tribes, and had won several battles. He suspected that this was a sign that Tan Shihuai was accumulating resources to go south and seek revenge on him, so he had been on guard.

As a result, when autumn and winter came, the sandalwood tree did not come to attack him, but instead went eastward.

Is it to threaten Youzhou?
Or is there some other plan?
Yuan Shu was very puzzled by this and could only continue to send people to closely investigate the movements related to the Xianbei and try to get as much first-hand information as possible.

In addition, he devoted the little energy he had left to recruiting cavalry and expanding the cavalry force.

(End of this chapter)