Tiger Guards

Chapter 519 The Army Divided into Three
The next day, when Zhao Ji woke up, the sun had already risen.

The sun is shining brightly today. That's how winter is; either the sky is covered by dark clouds or it's clear and blue.

Outside the south gate of Fushi City, the Qiang garrison was filing out, discarding their weapons and armor on both sides of the road, and standing in groups according to their tribal affiliation, waiting for the Han army to place them.

After the garrison, came the other men, women, and children in the city.

They could only carry one bag, and would be searched by the Han army after leaving the city gate.

Even if they find a gold tooth, they'll beat it up until they knock it out.

The search was far from polite, but they also disdained to rob the Qiang people of their belongings.

Even if some surrendered nobles were wearing luxurious sable fur coats, no one would rob them in public... As for the migration, once they were out of sight of the public, that was another matter, and Zhao Ji couldn't concern himself with that.

After the last of the Qiang slaves drove the beasts out of the city, Zhao Ji ordered Zhao Yun to lead the Tiger Step Army into the city first and take over the city's defenses.

By midday, all the valuables in the city had been packed up and transported to the rear along with the prisoners and herds of animals.

After the troops entered the city and roughly divided up their garrison areas, they were finally able to sleep in warm, sheltered houses.

Whether it was the Han army, the Xiongnu volunteers, or the newly formed Qiang daredevils, they were all extremely exhausted after the high-intensity battle.

Then the rear also began to shift, such as Jia Xu, who was in Sheyan Wangting, starting to move towards Fushi.

As a military advisor, Jia Xu was responsible for the actions of the various armies in the three commanderies when Zhao Ji launched his expeditions to Shuofang and Wuyuan.

Zhao Ji has already made a breakthrough. What Jia Xu needs to do is to use the surrender of the Qiang people and the Xiongnu followers as leverage to gradually eliminate the various Qiang and Hu tribes in the three commanderies.

After the three prefectures are cleared out, they can be redistributed before the spring planting season next year.

Jia Kui will be transferred from Mengmen to Sheyan Royal Court to be responsible for replenishing troops and transferring prisoners.

The Han army gradually adjusted according to plan, while news of Kui Tou's death and the great defeat of the Xianbei and Qiang allied forces spread rapidly to the surrounding areas.

The number of able-bodied men in each tribe is limited, and only a small portion of them are the most capable fighters.

These people either died in battle or were captured, and even if they escaped back, they had lost their courage. Most of the Qiang tribes had lost their ability to resist.

They could surrender and attach themselves to the Xianbei people, and naturally they could also attach themselves to and submit to the Han people.

Survival is the top priority for every tribe and every man and woman. As for the glory of the Qiang people, even if it existed, it has been destroyed by Zhao Ji.

After working tirelessly until the 21st of the eleventh lunar month, when everything was back on track and the Southern Route Army had arrived in Fushi, Zhao Ji set off for Shuofang.

Heading north along the Qin Straight Road, first to Wuyuan, the ultimate goal was the Shuofang Xianbei royal court, located north of the Yellow River and west of the Yin Mountains.

As long as it's south of the Yin Mountains, where the Xianbei people live in abandoned counties and towns, Zhao Ji doesn't need maps; his army has no shortage of border residents from the four outer counties. These people, acting as guides, can accurately locate one town after another, even when the grasslands are covered in winter snow.

Subsequently, the army was divided into three parts. The southern route under the command of Duan Wei was disbanded due to its slow progress. Xu Huang then commanded Yang Qiu, Han Meng, Zhu Ling, and Zhao Yun to take the official road northwest of Fushi, heading straight for Fuping in Beidi Commandery. Their ultimate goal was the Helan Mountain area in the northern part of Beidi Commandery.

Duan Wei and Zhang He, in cooperation with Jia Xu, used the Han border peoples, servants, and auxiliary troops rescued from the Qiang tribes to continue to quell the various Qiang and Hu tribes in the three commanderies.

The Three Auxiliary Army, led by Zhang Xiu, Jia Tong, and Pei Mao and assembled northeast of Chencang, marched north to block Xiaoguan and Jieting, blocking the westward escape route of the Qiang tribes. They were also under the command of the military advisor Jia Xu.

Zhao Ji, with Zhang Liao as his vanguard, led the central army and over ten thousand Xiongnu followers northward along the Qin Straight Road.

The army was thus divided into three groups. If nothing unexpected happened, Zhao Ji would sweep through the Xianbei tribes in Wuyuan and Shuofang, then head west to the Helan Mountains to join forces with Xu Huang. They would then rely on the winter fodder from the Northern Hu and Western Xianbei in the Helan Mountains to survive until spring.

What follows are two tough battles: the first is the army assembled by the Xianbei royal court, and the second is the decisive battle in the Helan Mountains area.

Upon hearing the news of the great victory at Fushi, Zhao Ji immediately informed Jinyang. Such a major victory could effectively suppress dissenting thoughts within the organization, deterring them from rash actions and avoiding unnecessary internal strife and pointless waste.

He also followed Jia Xu's advice and issued a military order to Ma Teng, ordering him to send 3,000 infantry and cavalry to Anding to assist in the battle.

Whether Ma Teng is willing to take the opportunity to climb the ladder is up to him. In any case, Jia Xu doesn't want the people of Liangzhou to be embroiled in internal strife again, and Zhao Ji doesn't care either.

Zhao Ji could not possibly show the heads of important chieftains such as Kui Tou, Huihe Dou, and Ge Dan to Ma Teng. These heads had to be sent to Jinyang as soon as possible for confirmation by the Xiongnu royal court and nobles, in order to intimidate the Xiongnu and stabilize the hearts of the people in Taiyuan, Hedong, and Daijun.

Then the head would be sent to Xuchang to demand a reward from the emperor... The more fruitful the battles on the Bingzhou front, the more conducive it would be to maintaining Lü Bu's rule.

Zhao Ji did not want the country to be in chaos while he was away on campaign, nor did he want Lü Bu to be murdered.

Only by constantly flexing its muscles towards Xuchang can it slow down the progress of those restless scholars' conspiracy.

After all, the alliance between Lü Bu and Zhao is currently very complex and cannot be resolved simply by killing Lü Bu.

This was an alliance even more troublesome than Dong Zhuo's. At that time, Dong Zhuo's son-in-law Niu Fu was leading a large army outside, but Niu Fu's deterrent power and courage were clearly far inferior to Zhao Ji's at present.

Therefore, the officials and scholars in the Chang'an court still dared to assassinate Dong Zhuo because they were certain that Niu Fu would not dare to resist.

But Zhao Ji is different. Killing Lü Bu won't solve the problem; instead, it will give Zhao Ji a reason to launch a second military coup.

The first military coup was a reform movement, but the second military coup was to overthrow the old order.

Although Zhong Yao is dead, he had already relayed Zhao Ji's words to the other officials.

Even though ministers like Yang Qi, Yang Zhong, Zhang Xi, and Zhou Zhong were dead, Yang Biao, Zhao Wen, Fu Wan, and Dong Cheng were still alive. The ministers knew about Zhao Ji's warning, and so did the emperor.

There's no point in taking action against Lü Bu before dealing with Zhao Ji.

Even so, Zhao Ji was still worried that those nobles and scholars who lacked long-term vision would make foolish, radical, and naive choices.

Never overestimate the intelligence of high-ranking officials; they are blinded by greed, let alone those who hold great power in the court.
With these concerns in mind, Zhao Ji made preparations for the entire army's cold weather protection before setting off.

When he set off, the order to mobilize Ma Teng's troops was also sent to Didao in northern Longxi.

Last year, locust control efforts were carried out in Hedong, and an even larger-scale locust control operation was conducted this year.

Therefore, the locust plague in Guanzhong and Longshang counties has significantly weakened this year. Not only is Ma Teng in northwestern Longxi living a relatively prosperous life, but Han Sui, who is stationed in Jincheng County, has also accumulated savings.

Because of this year's good autumn harvest, the government treasury is relatively full.

This resulted in a harmonious atmosphere being maintained among the two men's followers, and no further conflicts arose over the food issue.

Ma Teng and Han Sui were both leaders, and the bloody conflicts that broke out between the surrounding Qiang tribes often triggered larger-scale conflicts.

This isn't about how much food is looted or how many people die.

If the image of the eldest brother cannot be maintained, the army will collapse and be annexed by another.

Therefore, after their previous internal strife, Ma Teng and Han Sui are now even more at odds with each other despite their outward appearance of harmony.

After the famine problem was temporarily resolved and no longer a concern, Ma Teng and Han Sui had to consider more long-term issues.

So much so that when Zhao Ji's military order and the handwritten letters from Jia Xu and Duan Wei arrived, Ma Teng was very tempted.

He could only summon his eldest son, Ma Chao, to ask for Ma Chao's opinion.

By bypassing the other partners and asking Ma Chao, Ma Teng's meaning was already clear.

Ma Chao was clearly not someone who could sit still, so how could he give up this opportunity to cooperate with Zhao Da Sima?
Previously, when Ma Teng and Han Sui had a conflict, Ma Chao was almost beaten to death by Yan Xing.

Having been pulled back from the brink of death, with his mother and sister killed by Han Sui's soldiers, Ma Chao was exceptionally sinister and eccentric.

(End of this chapter)