The Three Kingdoms: The Oath of the Peach Garden, the Rise of the Han Dynasty

The army set off.

The people of Yanmen spontaneously came to the roadside to see off the soldiers. People on the front lines had already volunteered to transport provisions and weapons.

They held eggs and flatbread in their hands and stuffed them into the soldiers' arms.

"Generals, we must win this battle!"

"Don't worry, Auntie! We will definitely drive the Xianbei people back!"

"My child, be careful! Mom is waiting for you to come home!"

An elderly woman with white hair held the hand of a young soldier, tears streaming down her face.

The soldier wiped away his tears and said firmly, "Mother! I'll come back to marry a wife after I drive the Xianbei people away!"

Seeing this touching scene, Liu Bei's eyes also welled up with tears.

He bowed deeply to the people.

"Fellow villagers!"

"I, Liu Bei, hereby swear an oath!"

"As long as I, Liu Bei, live, I will never allow the Xianbei people to set foot in Yanmen!"

The people erupted in thunderous cheers.

"Long live Lord Liu!"

"Long live the Great Han!"

Amidst the cheers of the people, the 30,000-strong army marched in a grand procession to the front lines.

Banners blotted out the sun, and swords and spears formed a forest.

This army was completely different from the previous Han army.

They were not fighting for the emperor, nor for the generals.

They fought for their land, for their families, and for a better life.

There was no fear in their eyes, only determination.

Behind them, there were nearly 100,000 villagers who volunteered to transport grain, fodder, and military equipment; they could not retreat!

……

The northwest wind swirls withered grass across the desolate plains north of Yanmen Pass.

One after another, unfinished fortified villages stand guard at the border between the grasslands and Han lands.

Torches stretched along the stockade walls, almost from Gaoliu in the east to Shaling in the west, drawing a burning defensive line in the pitch-black night.

North of the defensive line lies an endless grassland, and south of the defensive line is...

On the official road, caravans of wooden oxen and flowing horses were making their way north.

On the plains, they used four-wheeled flowing horses, while in the mountains they used single-wheeled wooden oxen.

These transportation vehicles were inspired by Li Chang's rough sketches and were created by Bi Lan using her own imagination. She even borrowed the names from them.

They don't need to eat grass or drink water; a single soldier can push them along, and they can carry several bushels of grain at a time.

Food supplies that used to take ten days to reach the front lines can now be delivered in three days.

"Wow! This thing is amazing!"

A laborer pushing the wooden ox wiped the sweat from his face and said excitedly:

"In the past, half of the grain transported would end up being eaten by the laborers. Now, it's so much better, saving so much manpower and resources!"

"That's right! This was invented by Prefect Li and Attendant Bi together!" a woman carrying grain nearby said proudly.

"With this, we can fight for three months, or even three years, and our food supplies will never run out!"

They didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with being assigned to transport grain.

On the city wall, Liu Bei looked down at the endless stream of transport teams and a gratified smile appeared on his face.

"Fourth brother, thanks to you and Bi Lan. With these wooden oxen and flowing horses, we no longer have to worry about food supplies."

Li Chang leaned against the battlement, holding a telescope in his hand, gazing at the northern grasslands.

"This is just the beginning." Li Chang put down his telescope and said calmly, "Once the Hundred Crafts Workshop sets up the assembly line, our military equipment, food supplies, and transportation will be far ahead of the rest of the world."

Jia Xu stood to the side, nodding in agreement.

When others fight wars, they compete in terms of troop strength and supplies.

Li Chang's battles relied on technology, systems, and, most importantly, the support of the people!

This kind of dimensional reduction attack is simply unimaginable for ordinary people.

Everyone looked over.

"This is the wooden ox and flowing horse?" Zhang Fei's eyes widened. He jumped off his horse, ran over, and touched it. "Wow! This thing is amazing! We'll never have to worry about supplies again!"

Bi Lan straightened her back, a rare hint of pride in her expression:

"This is nothing! I've built countless things for His Majesty!"

Li Chang smiled and nodded: "Attendant Bi, you've worked hard. With the wooden ox and flowing horse, our food supplies will no longer be a problem while we guard the Great Wall."

Looking at the defensive line in front of him and then at his soldiers with high morale, Liu Bei felt confident.

"Let's go! Let's go into the main tent for a meeting!"

Inside the central command tent, the lights were on.

Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, Pang De, Zhang Liao, Xu Rong, Xu Huang, Qian Zhao, and Han Hao, a group of fierce generals, lined up on both sides, clad in armor, exuding a murderous aura.

Only Xiahou Lan, Cheng Yu, Zao Zhi, and Ren Jun remained in Bingzhou to guard the city. Xun Chen, Yue Yin, Zhang Ji, and others stayed up all night to handle logistics and administrative affairs.

"Gentlemen," Liu Bei spoke first:

"The scouts reported that He Lian personally led 100,000 Xianbei cavalrymen and had already crossed the Han Sea. They will arrive at the north of the Great Wall in three days."

This battle concerns the survival of Bingzhou and the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Please, all of you, speak frankly about your strategies for defeating the enemy.

As soon as she finished speaking, Qian Zhao stepped forward:

"My lord, I believe we can use the same strategy we employed last time to defeat Suli and Mika."

"Let General Zilong lead a light cavalry to bypass the enemy's rear, harass their supplies, and sow discord among their various units. The Xianbei people gather when there is profit and scatter when there is defeat; as long as their rear is in chaos, their army will surely collapse."

Zhao Yun also had his own ideas.

"No!"

But Zhang Fei was the first to jump out and object:

"Last time there were 20,000 Xianbei, this time there are 100,000! Zilong only has 3,000 cavalry. If he goes around to the enemy's rear, it will be like lambs to the slaughter!"

Moreover, this year I often led my cavalry north to raid for supplies, and the Xianbei camp is already far to the north, making it difficult to find!

If you ask me, we should take the initiative! While they're still establishing themselves, we should charge straight at their center, chop off He Lian's head in one fell swoop, and everything will be fine!

"Third brother is reckless!" Guan Yu immediately shook his head, his long beard swaying slightly.

"The Xianbei army of 100,000 men covers the mountains and plains; how could they be easily defeated? Our army has only 35,000 men, less than a third of their strength. Taking the initiative to engage in open battle is exactly what they want."

In my opinion, we should rely on our existing strongholds, implement a scorched-earth policy, and hold our positions firmly. We should wait in comfort and strength, then launch a surprise attack.

The two argued endlessly, each sticking to their own version of events.

The generals in the tent were divided into two factions: some supported Zhang Fei to take the initiative to attack, while others agreed that Guan Yu should wait for the enemy to tire themselves out.

Liu Bei looked at Li Chang, who had remained silent, and asked, "Fourth brother, what do you think?"

Li Chang stood up, walked to the map, picked up a charcoal pencil, and drew a large circle on the northern route.

"The strategy we used last time is no longer effective."

"Last time, the Xianbei only had 20,000 men, and Suli and Mijia were almost equal in rank, so they were outwardly friendly but inwardly at odds. Therefore, we were able to win by sowing discord and harassing behind enemy lines."

But this time was different. He and Lian unified most of the Xianbei tribes, and because of hatred, the 100,000-strong army was of one mind.

Zilong's three thousand light cavalry, if sent behind enemy lines, could at most cause some trouble, but could not shake their foundation at all.

"To wait in ease for the enemy to tire themselves out, one must also have the methods to do so."

Li Chang's charcoal pencil marks a heavy dot on the map:

"Even with the loss of a large number of prisoners, we only completed less than one-fifth of our fortified villages, and these were mainly concentrated in Yanmen in the east and Yunzhong in the west."

The area directly north of the center has almost no defensive fortifications, making it the weakest point in the entire defensive line.

Following the Xianbei army's usual practice of launching attacks from multiple points when marching south, they would traverse various key routes through the Yin Mountains.

He Lian wasn't stupid; he could see this weakness in the central region at a glance.

It's highly likely they'll split their forces into three routes, using the eastern and western routes to tie down our forces, while they themselves will lead the main force to break through from the due north and penetrate deep into the heart of Yanmen Pass.