My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Tadun, Tianyu, Supuyan, Wuyan…

Everyone present was taken aback by the news.

According to Tian Yu, Liu Bei should have led his entire army westward to pursue Cao Cao.

As Liu Bei's chief strategist, Xiao He should naturally follow Liu Bei and pursue Cao Cao together.

But now, Xiao and Dutong have led their troops north to deal with the Wuhuan!

Moreover, their military campaigns were incredibly swift. While they were still discussing how to march south, Xiao He was already conquering cities and seizing territory, and was about to reach Tadun's Chanyu court.

What does this mean?
I didn't provoke you, yet you come looking for trouble?

"Tian Guorang, this, this—"

Once he regained his senses, Tadun turned to Tian Yu with an incredulous look.

Tian Yu's eyes darted around, then suddenly his expression hardened, and he said in a very serious tone:
"Liu Bei has an enormous appetite. He not only wants to seize Youzhou from our Great Wei, but also wants to wipe out your Wuhuan tribe, the Duke of Liaoxi, and solve the border troubles of Youzhou in one fell swoop."

“I suspect that Liu Bei will divide his forces into two groups, with one group being led by Liu Bei himself to pursue my king.”

"The other route is for this traitor Xiao to lead his troops north and directly attack your Chanyu court in Liaoxi."

Tadun was startled and suddenly realized the truth.

Tian Yu sighed and said:
"Lord of Liaoxi, now you finally understand what it means to be 'if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold'."

“I told you long ago that Liu Bei and Xiao He are extremely ambitious. He will never tolerate your Wuhuan tribe occupying the area inside and outside the Great Wall. Sooner or later, he will use force against you.”

"What I didn't expect was that Liu Bei was in such a hurry. He hadn't even completely taken Youzhou yet, and he was already so eager to send troops against you, the Duke of Liaoxi."

"Lord of Liaoxi, it seems that the Wuhuan and our Great Wei are now truly in the same boat. We have no choice but to advance and retreat together."

Ta Dun's brows furrowed into a single line, and his fists clenched tightly.

Tian Yu was right; he was now on Cao Cao's pirate ship and couldn't get off even if he wanted to.

If you don't attack Liu Bei, he will come to your door on his own initiative.

This battle is unavoidable.

Unless you surrender and give up resistance, and submit to the State of Chu.

Can?

Even if he were willing, would 300,000 Wuhuan people agree?
I'm afraid that no sooner had he decided to surrender to Liu Bei than Wu Yan and his radical followers would have chopped him up and installed a new Chanyu.

If they didn't want to die, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and fight the Chu army head-on.

Since they had already started fighting the Chu army, they naturally had to work together with Cao Cao.

“Great Chanyu, since we are going to war with Chu anyway, it’s even better that Xiao He has delivered himself to our doorstep.”

"He only has 30,000 infantrymen, while we have at least 30,000 Wuhuan cavalry at our disposal."

"With 30,000 cavalry against 30,000 infantry, the advantage is clearly on our side!"

After a scathing rebuke, Wu Yan arrogantly shouted:
"Great Chanyu, just give the order! Let all 30,000 of our iron cavalry march out and slaughter Xiao He and his 30,000 Chu bandits, leaving them without a single survivor!"

Tadun's eyes lit up.

Yes, the invading Chu army consisted of only 30,000 infantrymen.

With 30,000 iron cavalry under his command, what is there to fear?
The one we should be wary of is Xiao He!
Wuyan's arrogance and self-confidence instantly reminded Tadun, causing his face to burn with confidence.

"King Khan, you are right. We have the advantage in this battle. What do we have to fear?"

Tadun leaped up and waved his hand:
"Issue my order, Chanyu: immediately assemble all troops. I will lead the Wuhuan cavalry south and slaughter the Chu dogs without leaving a single one alive!"

The minor kings of the Karasuma were as excited as beasts, jumping up and waving their fists, shouting and yelling excitedly.

"Lord of Liaoxi, Yu thought it was Xiao He—"

Tian Yu hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

As a minister of Wei, he knew all too well how brilliant Xiao He's strategies were.

Even a powerful figure like Cao Cao was no match for Xiao He.

Originally, he wanted to remind Xiao He that he was a brilliant strategist and should not underestimate his opponent or be overconfident, and should not engage in battle rashly.

Holding fast to the plains, or even retreating to the northern frontier to temporarily avoid Xiao He's advance, would be the best course of action. On second thought, Cao Cao is currently being relentlessly pursued by Liu Bei, which has tied up hundreds of thousands of Chu troops.

If Tadun were to flee to the grasslands at this time, wouldn't he be missing the only opportunity to capture Ji County and cut off the Chu army's supply lines?

When Cao Cao completely retreats to Bingzhou, Liu Bei recovers the entire territory of Youzhou, and returns to Jixian, wouldn't everything be over?

With this in mind, Tian Yu knew that it was risky for the Wuhuan people to fight Xiao He, but he didn't dare to persuade them any further.

"Thirty thousand cavalry against thirty thousand infantry, the Wuhuan do indeed have the advantage. With me here, all I need to do is remind Tadun not to underestimate the enemy and fall into Xiao He's trap. We should still have a very good chance of winning..."

Tian Yu felt naturally comforted.

Tadun then gathered the various Wuhuan tribes, combining more than 30,000 iron cavalry, and marched south across the Great Wall from Guangping, heading straight for Yuyang City.

...

Two days later.

Thirty li north of Yuyang.

The Chu army, marching north, encountered the Wuhuan army, which was marching south.

The two armies set up camps at the foot of Yanshan Mountain, five miles apart, forming a stalemate.

At dusk, a Wuhuan envoy, carrying Tadun's challenge letter, stepped into the Chu camp's main tent.

“My Great Chanyu said that everyone in the world praises you, Xiao He, for your brilliant strategies and your ability to command troops like a god, but my Great Chanyu doesn’t believe it.”

"My chieftain challenges you to a decisive battle tomorrow. The challenge is here. Do you have the courage to fight?"

The Wuhuan envoy held his head high, his words and expression extremely arrogant, and raised a letter of challenge high.

The generals on either side, including Deng Ai, Zhang Bao, and Zhao Tong, were all furious.

How dare a mere barbarian chieftain be so arrogant and disrespectful to their Commandant Xiao?

Looking for death!
All the generals placed their hands on their sword hilts, ready to step forward and chop the arrogant Wuhuan envoy into mincemeat.

Xiao He's lips curled into a cold smile.

Tadun sent such a reckless envoy, who dared to issue such an arrogant and contemptuous challenge, simply because he was eager for war and wanted to provoke him into a decisive battle.

That's exactly what I wanted...

Xiao He then ordered Ma Su to take the challenge letter and read it aloud in front of all the generals.

Ma Su took the challenge letter, took a deep breath, and read it aloud to the public.

It was a challenge that was utterly contemptuous and extremely arrogant.

This challenge belittled Xiao He to the point of being worthless, regarded all the generals of Chu as cowards, and showed utmost contempt for Liu Bei, using phrases like "weaving mats and selling shoes" to describe him in the most offensive and offensive way possible.

The generals were furious upon hearing this; they gritted their teeth and their eyes blazed with anger.

Xiao He, however, remained calm, showing no anger on his face. Instead, he calmly asked in return:
“Tadun’s challenge is quite eloquent in its insults; I doubt he could have written it himself. It must have been written by someone else.”

"If I'm not mistaken, this book should be from the hand of Tian Yu, isn't it?"

The Wuhuan envoy's expression changed slightly, clearly not expecting that the Grand Commandant Xiao before him was indeed a man of great wisdom and cunning, able to guess that the challenge letter came from Tian Yu.

"So what...so what?"

The Wuhuan envoy disagreed:
"Even if this challenge was written by Colonel Tian, ​​it is still the will of my Great Chanyu. So, do you dare to accept this challenge?"

A cold glint appeared in Xiao He's eyes.

As he had predicted, after burning the military supplies and provisions in Ji County, Tian Yu did not flee west with Cao Cao, but instead fled north, indeed heading towards the Wuhuan.

Their purpose, undoubtedly at Cao Cao's behest, was to lure the Wuhuan people south to help him reclaim Youzhou.

In order to survive, Cao Cao finally had to take this step.

The mastermind behind Tadun's challenge and his provocation was undoubtedly Tian Yu.

Those who collude with barbarians, intending to bring disaster to China and poison the Han people, should all be killed!

Xiao He's eyes narrowed, and he slammed his hand on the table, shouting sharply:
"Push this Wuhuan barbarian dog down and chop off his head!" (End of Chapter)