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

Inside the Xianbei's makeshift cowhide tent, the sheepskin map was swept to the ground by He Lian.

"Zhang Ju, you scoundrel! You treacherous and disloyal villain!"

His eyes were bloodshot as he kicked over the bronze table in front of him, spilling scalding hot mare's milk wine all over the floor.

"I was only a few days late, and he managed to get my attention by announcing the news of my Xianbei allied forces to the world!"

The Xianbei nobles inside the tent were silent with fear, and no one dared to provoke them at this time.

Everyone knows that He Lian had been waiting for this day for a whole year.

But Zhang Ju's move completely disrupted all his plans.

"Chanyu, please calm your anger."

It was the new leader of the Western Xianbei who spoke first:

"It's too late to curse now. Liu Bei must have already received the news and is mobilizing troops in Bingzhou."

If we hesitate any longer, and his defenses are fully established, it will be even more difficult to attack.

"Yes, Chanyu!" another nobleman quickly echoed.

"Although Zhang Ju was hateful, he did attract the attention of the Han court."

The fighting in Youzhou is fierce, and Luoyang simply can't spare any troops to support Bingzhou. Now is our chance!

"Our steppe cavalry can travel a thousand miles a day, and the Han people simply cannot catch up with them!"

"If we travel day and night, we can reach the foot of the Great Wall in three days! By the time Liu Bei realizes what's happening, we'll have already breached Yanmen Pass!"

He Lian's chest heaved violently as he gripped the curved sword at his waist tightly.

He knew these people were right.

There is no turning back now.

If he loses this time, he might not be able to hold onto his position as the Great Khan!

"good!"

He Lian suddenly drew his curved sword and slashed it down on a nearby wooden pillar:

"Pass on my order! All tribes, immediately break camp and march straight to Bingzhou!"

"I will show Liu Bei the consequences of harming my Xianbei people! I will raze Jinyang to the ground and cut off his head to use as a chamber pot!"

"promise!"

The nobles inside the tent responded with a roar, their eyes blazing with greed.

The grain, women, and wealth of Bingzhou were right before their eyes, waiting for them to seize them.

That afternoon, 100,000 Xianbei cavalrymen broke camp and headed south.

There were no orderly ranks, no heavy baggage trains, only warhorses covering the mountains and plains, cattle and sheep accompanying the army, and knights wielding scimitars.

The black tide swept across the withered grassland, and the sound of horses' hooves shook the earth.

He rode a pure white warhorse, draped in a black cloak, facing the howling north wind, his eyes filled with arrogance.

He admitted that Liu Bei was indeed quite capable.

But so what?

Faced with overwhelming troop and cavalry superiority, all schemes and tricks are futile.

He had 100,000 grassland warriors, while Liu Bei, at most, had only 40,000!

If he's fast enough, he can catch Liu Bei off guard!

Even if Liu Bei's army were incredibly fast, their supplies couldn't possibly arrive ahead of time, could they?

Ultimately, their calculations were wrong, and the freezing weather slowed their march considerably. It wasn't until five days later that the Xianbei army reached the north of the Great Wall.

He Lian immediately dispatched over a hundred scouts to investigate Liu Bei's defensive deployment.

He originally thought that since Liu Bei had received the news, he would definitely deploy a large number of troops along the Great Wall.

But the news brought back by the scouts delighted him.

"Report to the Chanyu! Along the Gaoliu and Qiangyin line to the east, the Han army has constructed numerous fortified strongholds and watchtowers this year, with a dense network of arrow towers and crisscrossing trenches. The defending force likely numbers at least 15,000! The defenses are extremely tight!"

"Report to the commander! Along the western line of Shaling and Yunzhong, there's a continuous stretch of fortified villages. The banners bearing the characters Huang, Xu, and Zhang are all there, and the garrison probably numbers over ten thousand!"

"Report to the commander! To the due south... To the due south, apart from the old city of Dingxiang, there are not many fortifications! The walls of the old city of Dingxiang are dilapidated, and the garrison on the city walls is sparse. I counted three times, and there are no more than three thousand men!"

"What?"

He Lian suddenly stood up and walked to the map.

Sure enough, the east and west sides of the map were densely marked with symbols of fortified villages and strongholds by scouts.

The almost isolated red dot in the due south direction represents the old city of Dingxiang.

"Hahaha!"

He Lian couldn't help but burst into laughter, tears welling up in his eyes. "Liu Bei, Liu Bei, I thought you were so capable! Turns out you're just a useless coward!"

"He's concentrated all his forces on the east and west flanks, leaving the central defensive line wide open! This is practically a godsend!"

The nobles nearby also gathered around, their faces beaming with joy.

"The Chanyu is wise! Liu Bei must be short-handed and can only attend to one front while neglecting another!"

"The old city of Dingxiang only had three thousand defenders, but we have fifty thousand troops. One charge and we can raze it to the ground!"

"After capturing Dingxiang, we can advance unimpeded and penetrate deep into the heart of Yanmen Pass! At that point, the Han army on both the eastern and western flanks will be attacked from both sides and will collapse without a fight!"

"Once we take Jinyang, all the women and wealth of Bingzhou will be ours!"

However, some people expressed their regret and asked, "Xiongnu, how could Liu Bei, a veteran of countless battles, make such a basic mistake? Could there be a trap involved?"

He Lian arrogantly said:

"A trap? Do you think I don't know? I have 100,000 Xianbei warriors! What can he use to fight? The entire Bingzhou only has 600,000 to 700,000 people, unlike my Xianbei who can all be soldiers. At most, there are only 40,000 to 50,000 main force soldiers!"

Even if I surround him, how can his forty or fifty thousand men be a match for my hundred thousand troops?

Our goal this time isn't just to plunder! We're going to find Liu Bei's main force; we want revenge! We want to crush the main force of Bingzhou and take over the entire province!

Even if it's a trap, it's something we deliberately used to lure their main force!

Even if it's 100,000 to 50,000, the advantage is mine!

He Lian's smile grew wider and wider as he forcefully poked his finger at the location of the old Dingxiang city:

"Pass on my order! Divide the troops into three groups!"

"Dashabi in the east is leading 20,000 warriors to attack the Gaoliu and Qiangyin line! No need for a direct assault; just hold them off and prevent them from reinforcing the central area!"

"The Western strategist is leading 30,000 warriors to attack the Shaling and Yunzhong line! He will secure the water sources, leave a retreat route, and simultaneously retake the Hetao region!"

"I will personally lead 50,000 main troops to attack the old Dingxiang city to the south!"

"I will conquer Dingxiang City within a day! And reach Yinguan City within ten days!"

"Half a month later, we celebrated our victory with drinks in Jinyang City!"

"promise!"

Dashabi and Zhizhang, along with all the Xianbei nobles, responded in unison, their morale soaring to its peak.

In their view, victory was already assured.

War is imminent.

Yunzhong County was formerly known as Dingxiang City.

This border town, which had been plundered by the Xianbei, led to the relocation of Dingxiang to the interior.

It has now been transformed into a sufficient military fortress.

A year ago, Li Chang ordered that all the Xianbei prisoners and the prisoners brought here be moved here to build border defense fortifications.

For the past year, these prisoners have worked day and night to build several fortified fortifications along dozens of miles outside Dingxiang City.

Although it is not fully completed yet, it has already taken shape.

Perhaps in the Central Plains, this was not a particularly fortified city. Perhaps even in the summer, it wouldn't have been able to withstand the Xianbei for long.

But at this moment...

Xu Rong and Han Hao looked at the heavy snow falling from the sky and took out the brocade pouch given to them by Li Chang.

"The strategist is truly a genius! He actually came up with this idea!"