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

At this time, Zhao Yun led several hundred Qiang and Hu volunteers and circled around to their rear on the same day that the main force of the Xianbei marched south.

The Qiang people like Moji are quite skilled in their respective fields; they haven't completely abandoned their ancestral crafts, and out of ten, they can usually find five or six tribes.

They hide during the day and come out at night, specifically targeting small tribes of dozens or hundreds of people.

First kill the scouts, then storm the camp and behead the leader. Set fire to the tents and food supplies, slaughter cattle and sheep, and poison the water source with the leftovers!

The remaining women, children, the elderly, and the infirm will be kept in as many groups as possible!

Those who remained all rushed to the territory of neighboring tribes.

Before leaving, they left behind several flags of the opposing tribe, killed a few lone herders, and threw their bodies at the crossroads.

"Remember! It was Mika's men who paid our Han army with cattle and sheep to kill your leader! If you want revenge, go find them!"

Qiang Hu Yi Cong left as soon as he finished shouting, and the Xianbei cavalry left behind to guard their home could not catch up.

Within three days, the Xianbei rear was in complete chaos.

The annihilated barbarians, filled with rage, stormed into their enemy's territory, burning, killing, and looting. The attacked tribes immediately rose up in retaliation.

The two sides fought several battles, resulting in thousands of deaths and injuries, and the theft of tens of thousands of cattle and sheep, deepening the enmity between them.

To some extent, the Xianbei people's food crisis was also resolved.

Over the course of ten days, Zhao Yun suffered few casualties, while the Xianbei lost nearly 10% of their forces due to infighting.

On the main battlefield, Liu Bei used a baiting tactic, deliberately setting up camp at another pass to form a pincer movement with the main camp!

Before leaving, Li Chang sincerely said to Liu Bei:

"Brother, if I'm not there, no one will help you make decisions. Why don't we let Mr. Wenhe go with you? With him there, we'll feel more at ease!"

Jia Xu: "!!!"

I'm ***￥%=/*##!

But he still smiled and said, "Don't worry, my lord, with my advice and strategies, there will be no worries!"

Liu Bei agreed!

So every day he would personally don armor, patrol in front of the camp gate, and show himself in front of the Xianbei people!

The banners bearing the titles "General Who Crossed the Liao River" and "Governor of Bingzhou" were planted higher than the stockade walls.

They deliberately ordered the soldiers to reduce the number of fires they lit, and at night they only lit half of the camp lanterns, making it seem as if the troops were short of manpower and supplies were about to run out.

As expected, Suli and Mika took the bait.

They received a tip: Liu Bei, the governor of Bingzhou, and the prefect of Yanmen, were both relatives of the emperor. If they were captured, the Han Dynasty would offer at least 100,000 shi of grain and 10,000 bolts of cloth as ransom, and they could even be made kings of the grasslands!

"Raiding Yanmen Pass might only yield some grain and women at most," Suli said, his eyes reddening. "If we capture Liu Bei, the entire grassland might be ours!"

"That's right!" Mika slapped his thigh. "What are those poor people! Once we take Liu Bei, we can have as many as we want!"

The two immediately ordered the abandonment of all detour plans and the concentration of all 10,000 cavalry to launch a fierce attack on the Han army camp.

The shouts of battle echoed through the valley.

Wave after wave of Xianbei cavalry charged the gate of the stockade, and a dense rain of arrows fell on the stockade walls.

Liu Bei stood at the very front of the gate, wielding two swords, one male and one female, and cut down the Xianbei soldiers who charged forward.

In the main camp, Zhang Fei attacked from the left flank, and Huang Zhong attacked from the right flank, flanking from both sides, barely managing to break the encirclement of Liu Bei's direction, and slaughtering the Xianbei people until their corpses piled up like mountains!

This is how we give the Xianbei people a glimmer of hope without actually harming Liu Bei!

But there were too many Xianbei people. If they couldn't win, they would run away, and then come back. It was a never-ending war of attrition.

The Han army numbered only a few thousand, but after holding out for three days, they suffered more than eight hundred casualties. The soldiers' eyes were sunken, and they were almost too weak to even swing their swords.

Although the Han army was exhausted, the Xianbei were even more restless!

After three days of relentless attacks with no progress, the army was on the verge of losing the prize they had been chasing. Their morale was low and they were desperate to fight to the death.

However, precisely because Liu Bei's banner was raised in front, the Xianbei cavalry, who originally planned to divide their forces and scatter to plunder Yanmen, were all firmly attracted to this place.

For three whole days, the people, autumn harvest, villages, and fields in the heart of Yanmen Pass remained completely unharmed and unscathed.

At this moment, the previous advantages in popular support and military morale are fully demonstrated!

In order to fight against these Xianbei, the men of Yanmen gave up harvesting and took the initiative to transport grain and build camps for Liu Bei, leaving only the women, the elderly and children at home to harvest.

Among the thousands of soldiers were tens of thousands of civilian laborers. With the entire army learning to read, the overall quality of the troops improved, and even a former private could possess the qualities of a squad leader or platoon leader.

The army can be expanded quickly simply by recruiting some laborers!

The quality may actually decline, but the number of people can still be kept above the acceptable level!

After several days, the Xianbei people became increasingly confused as the fighting continued!

How come there are still people in the Han army?

No one has retreated these past few days, because Liu Bei has always been in front of them!

Another day after the battle.

Zhao Yun sent a messenger back with a message.

Liu Bei wiped the blood from his face.

Beside him, Jia Xu, who had been forced into the room by Li Chang, stroked his beard and said, "My lord, don't be impatient. The fish has already taken the bait; it's time to pull the line."

"Suri and Mika were only temporarily allied; they were only superficially friendly. They both wanted benefits, but they were also afraid of being stabbed in the back by the other."

"If we just add fuel to the fire, their alliance will crumble instantly."

"How do I add it?" Liu Bei asked.

"Simple," Jia Xu said.

"Just follow Mingdao's old plan! Send someone to deliver a generous gift to Mika, and write a letter with no beginning or end. Make a big show of it, passing in front of the Suli camp so that everyone can see it."

"Only send Mika?" Zhang Fei was stunned. "Isn't this blatantly an attempt to sow discord?"

"That's exactly what we need," Jia Xu said. "If it's too complicated, the Xianbei people won't understand! The more obvious you are to a suspicious person, the more they'll believe you."

Liu Bei nodded in agreement.

That afternoon, the Han army envoy, leading ten bolts of silk and carrying two jars of fine wine, swaggered past the gate of Suli Camp and went straight into Miga Camp.

The news reached Suli's ears in less than half an hour.

"Bang!"

Suli slammed his fist on the table, and the bowl he had snatched from the table shattered on the spot.

"That bastard Mi Jia! He really was colluding with the Han army!" he roared. "No wonder he'd been shirking his duties these past few days! Turns out he was planning to betray me and take Liu Bei for himself!"

He immediately led two hundred personal guards, carrying scimitars, and charged into the Miga camp.

"Mika! Get out here right now!"

Mika had just finished reading Liu Bei's letter and was completely bewildered. The letter only praised him a few times for his bravery and said that he had long admired his name and wanted to make friends, without mentioning a single word about war.

Seeing Suli storm in, looking menacing, he frowned and said, "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm crazy?" Suli pointed at his nose. "You accepted Liu Bei's gifts and secretly colluded with the Han army, and you dare to say I'm crazy?"

"Nonsense!" Mika retorted angrily. "This is Liu Bei's scheme to sow discord! I didn't agree to anything he asked for!"

"A divisive tactic?" Suli sneered. "Why sow discord only between you and not me? Why send you gifts and not me?"

"How should I know!"

"I think you made this plan with Liu Bei all along! You waited until I and the Han army were both exhausted before you came out to reap the benefits!"

The two argued more and more fiercely, and both drew their curved swords.

Mika angrily retorted, "Since you don't trust me, let's not fight this battle! If you want to fight, fight it yourself! I'll take my men to raid the heart of Yanmen Pass!"

"Why should you go and plunder?" Suli roared. "If anyone should go, it should be me! You stay here and hold Liu Bei off!"

"You have more men than me, so you should stay!"

"I'm not staying! You can stay if you want!"

The two argued for an hour, neither willing to give in!

The Xianbei coalition split on the spot. Suli's five thousand men stood on the east side, while Mijia's four thousand men stood on the west side, glaring at each other, swords drawn.

The remaining leaders of the smaller tribes stood at the back, not daring to utter a single word.

Neither side was willing to attack first, and both wanted to plunder. Yet they were also afraid that if they left, the other side could seize the opportunity to capture Liu Bei, and they were also afraid that if they stayed, the other side would take all the benefits from Yanmen.

The army was frozen in place, and all routine patrols and scouting ceased.

Just as the two were arguing so fiercely that they almost came to blows, a blood-covered soldier tumbled and crawled in.

"Chief! Something terrible has happened! There's a fire at the rear!"