A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

After the court assembly, Liu Bang kept only four people: Xiao He, Zhang Liang, Wei Ping, and Zhou Bo.

Wartime cannot be delayed; they must make a decision today.

All four of them advocated for war.

Because they knew that the Xiongnu had brought so many people, if they showed weakness, the Xiongnu would definitely become even more aggressive.

The barbarians are beasts; they fear power but do not cherish virtue.

"Alright, since we're going to fight, how much food and supplies should we provide? Xiao He, you're the head steward, you tell us."

"Your Majesty, the national treasury is currently empty, and there is not much grain left."

"Then what are you talking about, Wei Ping? Tell me, are you confident you can win?"

"Winning a war is not simply a matter of having more people."

"If such a large army is deployed, whoever has more people will win, so what's the point of having generals and military strategies?"

So many battles in history where the few defeated the many:

In the Battle of Baiju, Sun Tzu defeated 200,000 with only 30,000 men.

In the Battle of Yin Jin, Wu Qi defeated 500,000 with only 50,000 troops.

In the Battle of Hefei, Zhang Liao defeated 100,000 with only 800 men.

In the Battle of Julu, Xiang Yu defeated 400,000 with only 50,000 troops.

In the Battle of Pengcheng, Xiang Yu defeated 560,000 with only 30,000 troops...

"Give me 5 cavalry, and I will surely charge straight into the enemy lines and capture the Xiongnu Chanyu and the various nobles of the Xiongnu."

"Fifty thousand cavalry, you really dare to ask for that much."

"The total number of cavalry in the entire country is less than 30,000."

Xiao He smiled bitterly.

The Han Dynasty was simply too poor to support so many soldiers.

Especially for cavalry, food and fodder were consumed by both the riders and the horses.

With everything in ruins and in dire need of rebuilding, where would they find the money and grain to support cavalry?

Even Xiang Yu only had 30,000 elite cavalry back then. It was with these 30,000 elite cavalry that he was able to break the 560,000-strong coalition of feudal lords led by Liu Bang at Pengcheng.

"Then thirty thousand."

"Even 30,000 is enough to fight."

Wei Ping gritted his teeth. Last time, the Xiongnu were caught off guard and had reinforcements by his side, which enabled him to accomplish such a feat.

The Xiongnu were definitely prepared this time. He only had one chance. It would be extremely difficult for 20,000 elite cavalry to break through the layers of defenses built by the Xiongnu.

"Other places also need to be guarded, so we can't spare so many for you."

"At most 20,000 cavalry."

Xiao He did the math in his mind and gave the number 20,000.

"Regarding provisions."

Xiao He looked at Liu Bang halfway through his sentence.

"Why are you looking at me like this? You know the state of the grain reserves."

Liu Bang's face fell, and he said with dissatisfaction.

"I heard that when His Majesty conquered Xianyang and subdued Jiangdong, he seized a great deal of grain and fodder, which was then stored in the imperial treasury."

"Your Majesty, please consider the overall situation."

Upon hearing Wei Ping's words, Liu Bang's lips twitched.

That was his hard-earned savings for his funeral.

But this world belongs to him, and the people have suffered enough; he cannot let them suffer any more.

"Fine, take it and use it as military supplies."

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Xiao He, Zhang Liang, Wei Ping, and Zhou Bo bowed in unison.

"Tch."

Liu Bang waved his hand, signaling them to go and prepare to send out troops.

On the third day, new news from the front finally reached Chang'an.

Liu Bang summoned Xiao He, Zhang Liang, Wei Ping, and various generals to the palace again to discuss the matter.

"According to intelligence from the front lines, the Xiongnu have divided their army into nine parts, each led by one of the nine most powerful Xiongnu tribes."

"These nine tribes each set up their main camps in different locations."

"They're afraid Zi'an will wipe them all out."

Liu Bang chuckled, "This will relieve some of the pressure on everyone."

"Zi'an, tell me, how do you use this cane?"

Everyone's attention was focused on Wei Ping.

Wei Ping gestured on the map to indicate another route that had no connection to the front line at Yanmen Pass.

"Zhou Bo, if I gave you 1 troops, could you hold Yanmen Pass for a month?"

Zhou Bo was one of the more defensive generals under Liu Bang, and one of only two generals who cooperated with Wei Ping.

"One month."

Zhou Bo glanced at Wei Ping, then at Liu Bang, and gritted his teeth.

"Can."

"Fine, losing the city within thirty days is a capital offense."

"Even though the city was lost in thirty-one days, you are still a hero, the greatest hero of this battle!"

Since he could not achieve victory in one battle, Wei Ping chose to emulate the approach of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han. Wei Qing used a large army to contain the main force of the Xiongnu on the main battlefield.

Huo Qubing led his elite cavalry deep into the rear of the Xiongnu, sweeping through the enemy lines with unstoppable force.

He planned to have Zhou Bo hold off the Xiongnu's attack, while he would take another route through the territories of the Loufan and Xiutu kings and march towards the Xiongnu royal court.

After breaking through the royal court, the army split into two groups and relentlessly pursued the territories of the Left and Right Wise Kings and the Left and Right Guli Kings. This was something the Xiongnu royal court and the armies of the Left and Right Wise Kings and the Left and Right Guli Kings would certainly not be willing to do.

We borne all the losses from fighting the Han Empire; if we continued fighting, we would lose our homeland.

This would definitely force them to retreat. These five armies comprised almost half of the Xiongnu army. If they retreated, the rest of the Xiongnu would be unable to continue fighting.

The crisis at Yanmen was thus resolved.

He was also able to ambush the Xiongnu on their return journey and inflict a major defeat on the enemy.

After devising the plan, Wei Ping led 20,000 elite cavalrymen, who had been prepared, on a lightly armed journey. He needed to take a detour to ensure that the Xiongnu received news of the attack on their home as quickly as possible, thus relieving the pressure on Yanmen Pass.

It's easy to guess why the Xiongnu conscripted 30 men into the army: they wanted to use their lives to fill the Yanmen Pass.

The relentless, life-or-death siege of 30 troops put immense pressure on the city's defenses.

He has to be fast!

Wei Ping never imagined the shadow he would cast in the hearts of the Xiongnu after the last war.

How much help did it provide to Zhou Bo's defense!

......

After Wei Ping, Zhou Bo led a large contingent of his army to Yanmen, and Zhang Liang also joined the expedition.

When the army first arrived at Yanmen, Zhang Liang called out a soldier whose build and appearance were somewhat similar to Wei Ping's, and dressed him in the same armor and weapons as Wei Ping.

They raised the banner bearing the character "Wei".

As soon as the Wei banner was displayed, the Xiongnu's relentless attack abruptly stopped, and they retreated in disarray.

Those servants who joined the army hadn't seen it, but the Xiongnu soldiers had all witnessed firsthand how monstrous Wei Ping was.

Led by these Xiongnu, all the soldiers who had attacked the city retreated.

This is exactly what Zhang Liang wanted to see.

It's not easy to assemble an army of 100,000, and the war at Yanmen Pass is too urgent, so he had no choice but to come up with this plan to buy time by using Wei Ping's reputation.

Unexpectedly, the effect was so good!

And what he didn't expect was yet to come!