Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 178 Poison Scheme
Qiuliju is indeed out of military rations now, mainly because most of the shepherds have run away.

Shepherd slaves could become Han citizens and receive the protection of the Han army simply by bringing ten sheep to join Liu Bei. Naturally, the slaves were extremely eager to do so.

The Wuhuan troops were indeed lacking in fighting spirit. If it weren't for Qiuliju's high prestige within the tribe, these cavalrymen would probably have gone home to do business long ago.

The next day, when Wang Men arrived in Changping, Qiu Liju was frantically sending men to hunt down the slaves who had stolen the sheep and horses.

Upon seeing Wang Men, Qiu Liju's face turned extremely ugly. After holding back for a long time, he finally managed to utter a sentence through gritted teeth: "Wang Men... how dare you show your face in front of me?"

"I, Wang, have come to help the Chanyu, why would I dare not?"

Wang Men was indeed afraid of Guan Yu's gaze, but not of Qiuliju: "Does the Chanyu know that a great calamity is about to befall him?"

In fact, Qiuliju should not be called Shanyu, but only headman. Wangmen is a more polite way of addressing him.

"Hmph... Capture this thief!"

Qiu Liju was certainly aware that this was indeed a disaster, but he still pretended to have Wang Men arrested.

"Your Majesty, you should think this through. I, Wang, am currently representing Commander Liu..."

Wang Men didn't struggle. He knew that Qiu Liju wouldn't dare to kill him: "The Chanyu has captured the city of Da Han and stationed his troops in Changping. He is now an enemy of Da Han. I am here to deliver a letter of war on behalf of Commander Liu."

"A challenge? What challenge?"

Qiu Liju waved his hand, signaling his men to release the royal gate.

"If the Chanyu remains in Changping tomorrow, Commander Liu will issue an order using the imperial insignia, designating the Wuhuan tribe of Liaoxi as enemies of the Han Dynasty, and ordering the execution of any Han citizen on sight. The cattle, sheep, horses, and other valuables of the Han enemies will be considered stolen goods, which may be taken by both Han and non-Han people..."

Wang Men twisted his neck, took out a bamboo slip from his bosom, and began to read it aloud.

That was indeed a declaration of war, or rather, an ultimatum, warning Qiuliju not to continue residing in Han territory.

"Wasn't Liu Bei ordered to recruit Wuhuan cavalry? How dare he declare war on me at this time?"

Qiu Liju never expected that Liu Bei would actually intend to use force.

Logically, the imperial court was recruiting Wuhuan cavalry at this time to support the war in Liangzhou, and the appointed Wuhuan commander should obviously not have started a war against the Wuhuan at this time.

Moreover, in recent years, the imperial court's attitude towards the Wuhuan has always been mainly one of appeasement. Occasionally, there are officials in the Wuhuan Protectorate who are relatively tough, but they mostly just look down on the Hu people and do some oppressive things.

But no official ever openly waged war against the largest tribe of the Wuhuan.

"When the Chanyu led his troops to conquer Wuzhong and occupy Changping, wasn't he declaring war on the Han Dynasty?"

Wang Men shook his head and smiled: "If you can wage war against the Han Dynasty, why can't the Han Dynasty declare war on you?"

"This is not a war... I came here only to avenge Zou Jingxianyu Fu's crime of murder!"

Qiu Liju certainly couldn't admit that he was declaring war on the Han Dynasty, at least not under the current circumstances.

Wang Men looked at Qiuliju with an expression as if he were looking at a fool: "Does the Chanyu not know? Commander Zou is Commander Liu's sworn brother, and Xianyu Fu is Commander Liu's subordinate general... If you want to attack them, you might as well just attack Commander Liu directly..."

Qiu Liju was silent for a moment, then hardened his heart and said, "So what if we attack Liu Bei!"

"The Chanyu is indeed brave and daring to challenge the general of the Han Dynasty who is in charge of the army. This is just like challenging the emperor of the Han Dynasty... There's no need to talk anymore. Chanyu, just wait to die."

Upon hearing this, Wang Men turned and left.

Qiu Liju clenched his fist, but finally spoke up to stop him: "Wang Qidu, wait... what exactly is your purpose in coming here?"

“Originally, I intended to help the Chanyu and Governor Liu ease their tensions and also help the Chanyu obtain a title from the Han Dynasty… But since the Chanyu is so brave and fearless, I, Wang, have nothing to say.”

Wangmen turned back and sighed, "What does the Chanyu think of Commander Liu's plan regarding cattle, sheep, and horses?"

"This is a treacherous and vicious plan! To elevate slaves to noble ranks, to make lowly slaves into nobles, this is a reversal of the natural order, and it will surely bring disaster!"

Qiu Liju said bitterly.

"Oh? The world is turned upside down? Didn't the Chanyu also succumb to slavery when he was young?"

Wang Men shook his head: "What, now that you've become the leader of the tribe, you've forgotten the hardships of the past? Khan Lu is indeed a nobleman, but how many soldiers does he command now?"

Qiuliju was indeed a slave when he was young—the Wuhuan people often fought among themselves, and Qiuliju's whole family was captured when he was a child and worked as stable boys.

Later, his mother was taken as a concubine by the former Shanyu, Laohan Luwang, of the Eastern Wuhuan, and he thus became the Shanyu's adopted son, and gradually became a powerful Yishuai (tribal leader, also called Qushuai).

After the old Chanyu died, his own son also died suddenly and mysteriously. All the Wuhuan people in the east who had the right to inherit the throne tried to win over Qiuliju.

However, Qiuliju did not help anyone. Instead, he took advantage of the civil war among the Wuhuan to preserve his strength. After the other successors decimated their troops in the civil war, Qiuliju became the strongest leader of the Wuhuan.

Subsequently, the eastern Wuhuan split into four parts: Liaoxi, Liaodong, Yuyang, and Youbeiping.

The Wuhuan people of Yuyang were vassals of the Han Dynasty at that time. They were previously controlled by the Zhang family and are currently controlled by Xianyu Fu.

Su Puyan, a Wuhuan chieftain from Liaodong (who called himself King Qiao), was the nephew of the old Chanyu and had more than a thousand households under his command.

The true bloodline of the old Chanyu was his grandson Wuyan (who called himself Khan Lu Wang), who was the chieftain of the Youbeiping Wuhuan.

However, Wuyan's followers numbered only eight hundred, and their strength was even weaker than that of the Yuyang Wuhuan controlled by Xianyu Fu. They were the weakest of all the Wuhuan tribes, but Qiuliju dared not annex them.

"Wang Men! Are you deliberately trying to die?!"

When his shameful past was brought up, Qiu Liju angrily drew his sword, but he did not actually attack Wang Men.

"What Wang wanted to tell the Chanyu was that the Chanyu's rise from slave to his current status might have been due to luck and destiny, but ultimately it was because the Chanyu chose the right path back then."

Wang Men glanced at Qiuliju's knife and shook his head, saying, "Now the Chanyu has a new choice... Commander Liu can make the Chanyu a true Wuhuan king, but if the Chanyu doesn't choose this path, Commander Liu can also make some slave the Wuhuan king..."

"Hmph... Liu Bei wants me to obey him? If I'm going to obey someone else, what use is this so-called King of Wuhuan?!"

Qiu Liju shook his head with a cold laugh: "I got to where I am today precisely because I refused to obey anyone... Enough nonsense, if Liu Bei wants war, then let's fight!"

Wang Men bowed respectfully, but his words carried a hint of sarcasm: "The Chanyu is indeed brave and fearless... but... this isn't the first or second time the Chanyu has obeyed Zhang Chun's orders. Does he only obey when there's money and supplies, and only fight when there isn't?"

"……roll!"

Qiu Liju was furious and drove Wang Men out of Changping, but still did not dare to kill Wang Men.

In truth, Qiu Liju was quite uneasy. He knew that his soldiers had no will to fight and therefore dared not kill Wang Men.

But he did not withdraw his troops.

Wang Men used his cavalry family members to lure Qiuliju's main force, causing them to lose a significant number of men.

If they were to withdraw, this military expedition would have resulted in countless losses with no gains whatsoever, while the other village chiefs had not suffered as much as Qiuliju—especially the runaway slaves, whose sheep and shepherds were all Qiuliju's property.

This might lead them to have inappropriate thoughts.

Moreover, even if they retreat to White Wolf Mountain, they cannot resolve Liu Bei's plan to wipe out his entire family.

Since Liu Bei wants to fight, then let's have a battle. Victory or defeat, we can at least have a proper explanation...

If we can defeat or even capture Liu Bei, then everything will be much easier.

If we are defeated by Liu Bei, at least the tribal chiefs will suffer heavy losses, preventing them from having other ideas...

At the same time, no one would object to him submitting to the Han Dynasty after the defeat. No matter who he submitted to, all he needed to do was protect his troops and let others suffer losses. Qiuliju was able to become a leader not because of his brute strength.

Qiu Liju had heard the saying "fearing power but not cherishing virtue," but he did not see it that way.

It's not a matter of being afraid of authority; those who can become leaders usually don't think about things that way.

Many things are not decided solely by the headman; the leaders of different tribes have different ideas, and even their own relatives have different thoughts.

If the power of the tribal leaders cannot be weakened, regardless of whether they submit to the Han Dynasty, as long as the tribe is unstable, I, as the chieftain, am likely to die suddenly and inexplicably.

Defeating Liu Bei would grant him prestige, enough to suppress his own clan.

Even if defeated, one can still gain authority by bullying the weak and suppressing one's own tribe.

As for whether the tribe will be weakened... ha, if it becomes too weak, then it can submit to the Han Dynasty.

Even if he didn't do that, wouldn't Liu Bei's methods have weakened his own clan?
……

The next day, outside Changping City.

Liu Bei's troops indeed arrived.

The troops were divided into three parts, with Xianyu Fu and Xu Rong on the left and right respectively. Both were cavalry, each with about eight hundred men.

Xianyu Fu's troops were the Wuhuan cavalry of Yuyang; Xu Rong's troops were the mixed Hu cavalry of Liaodong, mostly Xianbei.

The central army was carrying a banner with the character "Guan" on it, and consisted of 2,500 infantrymen led by Guan Yu, who appeared to be half new recruits and half veterans.

This force only has a little over four thousand men, while Qiuliju currently has more than five thousand cavalrymen, so Qiuliju has the advantage in terms of manpower.

But war isn't about the number of people. However... Liu Bei isn't here, and Zhang Fei isn't here either.

Liu Bei didn't plan to use any more tricks in this battle; there was no need.

If even Guan Yu leading his army can't defeat Qiu Liju's troops who have no will to fight, then we might as well all die together.

Qiuliju did not leave his troops inside the city, but instead sent them out to meet the enemy. After all, he had only cavalry at his disposal, and defending the city would be tantamount to crippling himself.

He had five tribal chiefs under his command, each leading their own tribe with varying military strength.

The most powerful town chieftain was his nephew, Tadun, who had 1,400 cavalrymen under his command, and Tadun opposed submitting to the Han Dynasty.

Tadun was always brave and the most valiant warrior in his tribe. The Wuhuan elders even compared him to Modu Chanyu. Of course, those elders had some ulterior motives, since Qiuliju had a son, but his son Louban was young, only eight years old, which was the perfect age for a selection of candidates...

Qiu Liju actually both liked and was wary of Taton.

I like it because Tatton looks a lot like Qiu Liju when he was young.

The caution stems from the fact that Tadon resembles Qiuliju in his youth...

Therefore, Qiuliju appointed Tadun as the commander-in-chief and added 600 men to Tadun, bringing the total number of cavalry to 2,000 to fight against Guan Yu's central army.

The other four village chiefs each led their own troops to resist Xianyu Fu and Xu Rong. These four village chiefs together had 1,800 cavalry.

Qiuliju led the remaining 1,500 cavalry of his own troops as a reserve force.

Since Liu Bei is not here and we do not know where he is, it is reasonable to keep enough reserves.

Qiu Liju didn't actually intend to lose; he genuinely wanted to win.

Logically speaking, when cavalry fights infantry with equal numbers of cavalry, the cavalry should have the advantage, since cavalry can dominate the battlefield with their mobility.

Qiu Liju only intended to hold off Xianyu Fu and Xu Rong on both sides, but he planned to break through Guan Yu's infantry in the center.

Two thousand elite cavalrymen against two thousand five hundred infantrymen—even if the soldiers are demoralized, they should still be able to fight, right?

Even if those infantrymen are armored, they will still be confused when facing cavalry, right?

Indeed, that is the case according to common sense.

But Guan Yu wasn't the kind of person who could be judged by conventional standards...

Just as Tadun led his troops out and was about to run in an arc around Guan Yu's central army, he saw Guan Yu leading his troops to charge towards them.

As soon as they reached the range of the crossbow bolts, they unleashed a volley of fire. After firing, they did not retreat but continued to charge forward behind Guan Yu.

Tadun was stunned. Instead of using spears and crossbows to stop the cavalry, the infantry charged back at them.
I've never seen this before...

Moreover, Guan Yu's troops had a lot of crossbowmen, with two crossbows in each squad. For these 2,500 men, there were a full 1,000 crossbows!
A single volley resulted in the deaths and injuries of dozens of riders—the front rank of cavalry was almost entirely wiped out!

Using mounted archery tactics in circles was clearly not feasible, as the range and lethality of mounted bows could not compare to those of Han crossbows, and those infantrymen were mostly wearing armor.

Taddon led his troops to turn around and avoid entering the crossbowmen's optimal firing range.

There's no need for a head-on confrontation; the cavalry's mobility can easily evade these infantry.

Unexpectedly, the infantry did manage to avoid it, but they couldn't avoid Guan Yu...

Guan Yu led over a hundred cavalrymen at the forefront, and taking advantage of Tadun's army turning around, he quickly intercepted Tadun.

These hundred or so riders were not armored cavalry, or even cavalrymen; they were simply mounted infantry.

But this group of people, including Guan Yu, were all dressed in iron armor, even with face shields, so arrows really couldn't do anything to them.

Having been intercepted, Tadun naturally had to raise his spear and fight on horseback, but before he could even throw the spear, he was immediately struck by a knife.

Guan Yu's blade was too fast; he couldn't even see it clearly.

Fortunately, he reacted quickly and immediately turned to the side, swinging the spear in his hand frantically.

The spear flew into the air with a clang, but fortunately it blocked the blow and prevented the man from being beheaded.

However, after Guan Yu deflected the spear with a single slash, the powerful blade still grazed the collapsed shoulder.

His shoulder immediately went numb. Seeing Guan Yu glance back at him and turn his horse around as if he was about to strike again, Tadun panicked and quickly spurred his horse into the crowd, no longer appearing at the front of the army.

This is the right choice, but it will inevitably affect morale.

The Hu people naturally revered martial prowess, and seeing that the Han general had wounded Tadun with a single strike, they were all somewhat fearful—Tadun was already the most skilled warrior among the Wuhuan tribe.

The Wuhuan cavalrymen had little will to fight to begin with, and seeing Tadun retreat, none of them dared to advance.

Guan Yu turned back and challenged him to battle again, but Tadun dared not step forward again, and most of the Wuhuan cavalry also cowered and went around him.

With this maneuver, half of the Wuhuan cavalry entered the infantry's optimal firing range.

After all, the infantrymen were not idle either. While Guan Yu intercepted Tadun, they continued to charge. Now that they had reached their position, they used crossbow bolts to cause the deaths and injuries of nearly a hundred Wuhuan cavalry.

The deaths and injuries among Tadun's men were actually all caused by the infantry using crossbow bolts.

Guan Yu's charge appeared reckless, but it was actually a strategic maneuver to block the enemy's path. Whether the Wuhuan chose to surround him or bypass him, they would be shot at by the infantry's crossbow bolts...

He and his cavalry wore such thick armor precisely to act as human shields.

After losing hundreds of men, Tadun wisely led his army to retreat, attempting to force Chuliju to withdraw.

But Qiu Liju refused, because the four village chiefs were still fighting on both flanks, especially the two village chiefs on the right flank, who were already engaged in battle with Xu Rong's troops and found it difficult to withdraw.

So Tadun once again led his army to the right flank, intending to defeat Xu Rong.

Xu Rong's mixed barbarian troops, though seemingly unremarkable, fought with extreme ferocity, attacking relentlessly as if their lives depended on it.

Because the Xianbei of Liaodong and the Wuhuan of Liaoxi were enemies.

Xu Rong himself hadn't intended to fight so fiercely, but his Xianbei subordinates were relentless and determined to take someone down with them, even at the cost of their lives.

As a result, the disorganized troops were held up by these Xianbei people, while Guan Yu, the commander of the central army, quickly arrived and launched a fierce barrage of fire from behind...

The battle ultimately turned out the way that Qiu Liju neither wanted nor hoped for.

He didn't want to lose the battle, but if he really couldn't win, he hoped that it would be Tadun and the other village chiefs who died...

The battle situation was indeed as described. Tatun's troops suffered heavy casualties, with more than 600 dead and more than half wounded.

The other four county commanders each lost over a hundred men in battle.

Of the more than 5,000 cavalrymen, over 1,000 died on the spot.

Fortunately, they were all cavalry, and they weren't even in the city, so evacuating from the battlefield wasn't a problem.

Qiu Liju himself suffered minimal losses; he quickly evacuated Changping and headed towards Yuyang.

……

Yuyang.

The situation in Yuyang was similar to that of the Wuhuan in Liaoxi. Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun had relatively stable control over the Mitian sect, but their slaves and servants were all restless.

Most of the cattle and sheep that were previously acquired through the Mitiandao sect have now mysteriously disappeared...

Zhang Chun dispatched troops to seal off all the passes in Yuyang and led his army to hunt down and kill many slaves, but this could not solve the problem at its root, and even more slaves escaped.

Yuyang County had been reduced to nothing but slaves and the Zhang family. Now that the slaves had a way to become nobles, they were naturally going to take a chance.

Zhang Ju was no longer calm. He paced back and forth on the city wall of Yuyang, stopping every now and then to count on his fingers, presumably calculating the losses.

"Liu Bei's plan is extremely vicious. Now, none of our servants can be trusted. Do you, my cousin, know how to resolve this?"

After killing several slaves who had stolen cattle, Zhang Chun returned to the city wall and asked Zhang Ju for advice.

"Perhaps only killing Liu Bei can solve this problem..."

Zhang Ju frowned as he spoke. If he had a solution, he wouldn't be pacing on the city wall: "But Liu Bei is in charge of the army with the imperial insignia. If we kill him, we will have no choice but to rebel against the Han Dynasty... But right now, our clan is unstable, and our servants and slaves all have rebellious intentions. If we rebel against the Han now, I'm afraid someone will take our heads and present them to Liu Bei..."

"But if we don't kill Liu Bei, we'll lose all our livestock and slaves sooner or later..."

Zhang Chun said angrily, "Without slaves, are we supposed to have our clansmen herd livestock and farm? If we make them herd livestock and farm, they might even defect to Liu Bei! This is a plan to wipe out our clan! If we don't rebel now, in another year or two, we'll be all alone!"

"Not necessarily... We suffered losses, and so did the Xianbei. Our clan's slaves have fled, and the mine slaves from Gong Qichou and Liu Zheng's side will also flee..."

Zhang Ju finally stopped pacing and turned to look at Zhang Chun: "Gong Qichou and Liu Zheng will definitely deal with Liu Bei... Why don't we use Liu Zheng's name to invite Liu Bei to Youbeiping, and say that we are willing to cooperate with Liu Bei and give him all the copper and iron mines..."

"Furthermore, if slaves were to wreak havoc in Xihe and rob Liu Bei of his wealth, wives, and concubines, would Liu Bei still grant titles to these slaves?"

(End of this chapter)