Force the enemy to fight

Hetao, Ma Yuejun camp.

"Once the Yellow River thaws, the movements of the Xianbei cavalry will be greatly restricted. If you want to enter Hetao, there are only three roads to go." Fang Yue pointed to the military topographic map and said to Guotu. Pei Yuanshao, "This first road is to detour Liangzhou and cross the river from Lingzhou in Beidi County. But even if the Xianbei cavalry can capture Lingzhou, there will be obstacles from the inner Great Wall next. Moreover, this road is thousands of miles away and it will not be completed in a month. The Xianbei people have just survived a severe winter, and the grain reserves in the army must be limited, so they will never take this road."

Pei Yuanshao nodded and asked subconsciously: "Where is the second way?"

Fang Yue said: "The second way is to go east into Bingzhou, from Wild Bison or Caisangjin to cross the river in the west, but this road is even more distant and the Xianbei people can't afford it."

Pei Yuanshao asked again: "Where is the third way?"

"Here." Fang Yue reached out and took a photo of the map, and said in a low voice: "It's here! Finally, I thought that the Xianbei people would definitely choose to cross the river here and invade Hetao."

"Hmm!" Guo Tu said in a cold voice, "Wuyuan!?"

Pei Yuanshao was stunned when he heard this and asked in confusion: "There is no floating bridge or ferry in the Wuyuan area. The widest part of the river is five or six hundred feet. How can the Xianbei people cross the river?"

Fang Yue Ning said in a voice: "Although the Wuyuan water surface is wide, the widest part can reach a thousand steps away. But now it is the dry season. We have already visited it in person. The deepest part is only about five or six feet. Xianbei people can ride a horse across the river."

Yinshan, Xianbei camp.

"Report~~" A thousand-man leader rushed into the tent and walked towards Budugen, "King, the river water has begun to thaw, and the thickness of the ice layer is no longer enough to carry the weight of the horse."

"Hmm?" Bu Dugen frowned and said in a deep voice, "This is a difficult thing."

"It's okay." Ke Bi Neng said calmly, "Even if the river water freezes, my Xianbei army can still cross the river from Wuyuan."

"What a joke." A ten thousand men under Bu Dugen retorted, "The Wuyuan River is wide and hundreds of feet wide, with no ferry or ferry. Our army does not know how to build floating bridges, and logging wood and rafts are too time-consuming, and it is very easy to be attacked by the Han army. How can the army cross the river in Wuyuan?"

Kebineng said: "Now the snow on both sides of the river is frozen and the ice is about to melt. It is the dry season with the smallest water flow in the year. The water level of the river has dropped to the lowest. Two months ago, I sent someone to investigate. Even the deepest part of the river in the middle is only about five or six feet. The army can ride a horse across the river."

"Oh?" Bu Dugen said happily when he heard this, "Since that's the case, the army will cross the river from Wuyuan."

Hetao, Ma Yuejun camp.

"If General Fang Yue said, it is the dry season now, and the river water is only about five or six feet deep, and Xianbei cavalry can ride horses across the river." Guo Tu said this and frowned and said, "But the shallow water in Wuyuan area stretches for dozens of miles wide. Our army has limited troops. How can we defend against the enemy?"

Fang Yue said: "If our army sets defenses on the south bank of the river, the Xianbei cavalry can divide the troops into multiple routes and cross the river at multiple points. Our army has limited troops and will inevitably not be able to divide the troops to defend against the enemy. If we divide the troops to defend against the enemy, we may be defeated by the Xianbei people one by one. In this way, we will be unable to defend. Therefore, the last general thought it would be better to cross the river first and set up camp on the north bank of the river."

"Oh?" Guo Tu stroked the willow beard and said in a voice, "Build a camp on the north bank?"

Pei Yuanshao said in confusion: "What is the difference between our army camping on the north bank and camping on the south bank? Can the Xianbei people still divide their troops into multiple routes and cross the river at multiple points?"

"On the surface, this is true, but it is not the case." Fang Yue said, "If our army defends against the enemy on the south bank and the Xianbei people cross the river, the enemy will be in front of the enemy, the three armies will use their lives to move forward bravely; if our army defends against the enemy on the north bank and the Xianbei people cross the river, the enemy will be in the back, and they will be worried that they will be attacked by me in the back. In many cases, this psychological slight difference is enough to change the situation on the battlefield and even determine the final victory or defeat."

"Yeah." Guo Tu nodded and said in a calm voice, "I think what General Fang Yue said is reasonable, what General Yuan Shao thinks?"

Pei Yuanshao said: "Since both Mr. and General Fang Yue think that they should camp on the north bank of the river to defend the enemy, I have no other opinions, so just do it."

Fang Yueqiang clasped his fists and said in a deep voice: "In this way, the general will take the order."

Southern foot of Yinshan.

Seventy thousand Xianbei troops gathered into dense cavalry formations, just like moving ants, rolling south across the empty and desolate desert. When the army was moving, a fast horse galloped back from the front and came to Budugen's central army formation.

"King, the Han army in Hetao has crossed the river and set up camp on the north bank, backing the river."

"Oh?" Bu Dugen's eyes flashed and he asked in a deep voice, "How many troops are there in the Han army?"

"More than 10,000 cavalrymen and more than 5,000 infantrymen."

"More than 15,000 people?" Bu Dugen pondered for a moment and said sternly, "Come!"

A personal centurion rushed forward and responded quickly: "Here."

Bu Dugen said: "Send an order to let Tuoba Jiefen, Kebineng and all the nobles above ten thousand men come to the Central Army to discuss matters."

"Get orders!"

The centurion made a promise and rode his horse away. In less than a moment, more than a dozen riders had already rode their horses away.

Soon, Baba Jiefen, Kebineng and all the nobles above ten thousand men and above among the Xianbei people gathered at Budugen's main army. Baba Jiefen's newly grown son Tuoba Liwei (this person is a historical celebrity and the Emperor of the Xianbei Northern Wei Empire). The general in front of Kebineng's tent, Wulitu, was thrown into the mud, and he could not even let him go. Tuolitua and others were also listed.

Bu Dugen turned over and got off the horse. A servant came forward to spread a wool blanket on the ground. Bu Dugen took the lead in sitting down on the wool blanket. Kebineng and Baba Jiefen and other Xianbei nobles also sat on the ground and surrounded Bu Dugen in a large circle.

"Just just now, the Han army, who had crossed the river in Wuyuan and built camps with water on his back." Bu Dugen's eyes flashed over the Xianbei nobles and said in a deep voice, "I thought the Han army would build camps on the south bank of the river, but I didn't expect that the Han army would dare to cross the river and build camps with water on his back!"

"The Han army built a camp behind the river, which certainly put itself in a desperate situation, but also forced our army to give up the advantage of cavalry and fight head-on!" Baba Jie said with a serious expression, "It seems that although the butcher Ma is not in Hetao, the Han general who stays in Hetao is also a powerful character."

"The decisive battle is the decisive battle!" The young Tuoba Li said loudly, "My Xianbei army has 70,000 cavalry. Are you still afraid of more than 10,000 Han troops?"

Although Tuoba Liwei is brave, he is young after all. He has never experienced the power of the Han army!

If the two armies confront each other head-on and rely on favorable terrain, the three thousand Han troops would be enough to block the attack of 100,000 Xianbei cavalry. Like the Xiongnu cavalry, their advantage will never be a frontal attack, but a roundabout way, harassment, and restraint until the Han army is exhausted and destroyed, and then pounces on like a wolve, and one blow is fatal.

"No." Bu Dugen shook his head and said, "This large-scale move south is just to plunder the population and livestock of the Hetao Plain, not to fight the Han army in a decisive battle. Therefore, you must not fight easily unless you have to! You can ask a team of thousands of cavalry to launch a tentative crossing of the river and explore the Han army's reaction first."

On the north bank of the river, the horses and the army camp.

Fang Yue stood solemnly above the gate facing the cold wind, pointing to Guotu on the south bank of the river, Pei Yuanshao said: "The last general has ordered people to build a watchtower every 100 steps on the south bank of the river, which is ten feet high, and conveys messages with the five-color flag. If the Xianbei people have any abnormal movements, the news can be transmitted back to the camp without taking a cup of tea."

"His grandma's." Pei Yuanshao, who had always been gentle, suddenly cursed and muttered, "I remember that these observation platforms are really magic weapons to restrain cavalry. I remember that eight hundred bandits were rampant in Nanyang, killing Qin Jie, Yuan Shu and others to death, and Ye Xue died. But later, a bastard appeared from somewhere and built such a lookout platform everywhere, which made the eight hundred bandits unable to move forward, so he had to turn to Yingchuan."

Fang Yue looked a little embarrassed, and then said, "With the restraint of the North Bank camp, the 5,000 cavalry left on the South Bank and the 20,000 suspicious soldiers of the herdsman Qiao Zhun can truly play the role of suspicious soldiers, completely dispel the lucky mentality of the Xianbei people and force them to fight head-on with our army."

"Okay, relying on the North Bank camp and the South Bank lookout as the eyeliner, it will make the Xianbei people unable to escape from mobilization, which is great!" Guo Tu praised, "In this way, the Wuyuan defense line is foolproof. The Xianbei people have no choice but to fight a head-on decisive battle with our army."

"I can't wait any longer." Pei Yuanshao said with a quick look. "If we can pile up all the 70,000 Xianbei cavalry this time, after the autumn ripens this year, our army will go north to the frontier without any effort to flatten the Xianbei people, haha."

Fifty miles north of Wuyuan, Xianbei Camp.

The Xianbei Qianqin leader who was sent to test the reality of the Han army rushed into the Budugen tent in a panic expression. The Xianbei nobles gathered in the Budugen tent looked around and saw that the Qianqin leader had a blood-stained battle clothes, with pale expressions. His chest was cut by a sharp sabre of bone-deep blood trough, and two feather arrows were inserted on his back.

As soon as he entered the tent, the thousand-horse captain knelt on the ground and cried in tears: "King, it's over, brothers are all finished, wuwuwu~~"

Bu Dugen looked cold and did not feel moved at all because of the loss of a thousand cavalry. He asked in a deep voice: "What's going on?"

The thousand cavalry captain stopped his sad voice and gasped, "The villain was ordered by the king to lead his army across the river. When the Han army camp on the north bank did not send troops to stop it. But as soon as the men and horses reached the south bank, a Han cavalry with more than 5,000 cavalry suddenly came over. The brothers had just climbed up from the biting cold ice water. How could the cold men have the strength? Moreover, the difference in strength was really huge~~ Although the brothers fought hard to fight to the death, they still ended in a crushing defeat~~"

"If you lose, you will be defeated." Bu Dugen said in a deep voice, "At least you find out the reality of the Han army. I didn't expect that there were still five thousand Han cavalry ambushing on the south bank, but just these five thousand ambush soldiers wanted to stop our army from crossing the river? Humph."

"No, there are more than five thousand cavalry." The captain of Thousand Cavalry breathed, "Although there were only more than five thousand cavalrymen launching the attack, there were more cavalrymen cheering in the distance. Because they were too far apart, the villain could not determine the correct number, but the villain could conclude that this cavalry would definitely not be less than twenty thousand cavalry."

"What did you say?" Bu Dugen was so gloomy that he stood up suddenly, "There are another 20,000 cavalry on the south bank of the river? In other words, the Han army had a total of 40,000 troops, of which 15,000 camped on the north bank of the river, and the other 25,000 camped on the south bank of the river. Is this possible? When did the horse butcher have an army of 40,000?"

"Absolutely," said Qianqianqian. "What's even more abominable is that the Han army also built many observation platforms along the south bank of the river. Each observation platform was more than ten feet high, and there were soldiers watching it. Our army's mobilization on the north bank of the river could not escape the surveillance of the Han army at all."

Ke Bineng's eyes leisurely flashed through his stinging expression and said to Bu Dugen: "King, in this way, our army divided the troops into two groups, and half of the cavalry were used to restrain the Han army on the north bank, and the other half of the cavalry crossed the river and robbed Hetao. Since the Han army left an army of up to 25,000 on the south bank, our army only sent half of the cavalry crossed the river, it would be difficult to succeed."

Bu Dugen looked gloomy and felt a sense of unreasonable irritability in his heart.

If I had known this, why would I have to be the commander of the coalition army? Now that Bu Dugen cannot retreat or advance, it has become a situation where the enemy is unable to move forward and retreat.

To order the withdrawal of troops? How should we explain to the troops who remained in the old camp and were eagerly looking forward to it? What should we use to support the hungry young, young, women and children? What's more, the 70,000 Xianbei cavalry returned in shame. As the commander of the Xianbei coalition, Bu Dugen's prestige would be devastatingly destroyed. From then on, who will obey his orders?

If you return to the desert like this, the small tribe, which was originally attached to Budugen, will turn to him. This is the case on the prairie. It has always been the survival of the fittest and the survival of the fittest. No matter how strong or prosperous the Golden Family was before, it belonged to the past and belonged to the genius of the Great Xianbei generation, Tan Shihuai!

If Bu Dugen cannot show the strength of the king, even if he is a descendant of Tanshihuai, he will be ruthlessly abandoned.

So, to fight the Han army?

The 70,000 Xianbei army seemed powerful, but only the more than 20,000 cavalrymen in the headquarters were truly obeying Bu Dugen's command. The two guys Kebineng and Tuoba Jiefan would only take advantage of the situation to rob.

Even if there are only more than 20,000 cavalry in the headquarters, Budugen is still confident of defeating the Han army on the north bank of the river. What if it wins? If the Han army on the north bank is defeated, there are more than 20,000 Han army on the south bank! Even if the Han army on the south bank can be eliminated, how many more than 20,000 cavalry in the headquarters of Budugen are left?

At that time, the master is weak and the servant is strong, and in the end it will be a waste of money, Ke Bineng and Tuoba Jiefan, two ambitious people?

When Bu Dugen was hesitating, Kebi Neng suddenly stood up and shouted: "King, for the glory of the Great Xianbei, Kebi Neng is willing to lead the cavalry in the headquarters to fight to the death with the Han army!"

"Oh?" Bu Dugen was surprised when he heard this and said loudly, "General Kebi Neng took this seriously?"

Ke Bi Neng pulled out a wolf-toothed arrow from the quiver pot, folded it into two pieces with a jam, and said quickly: "The God of Heaven is above. If Ke Bi Neng is insincere, he will be like this arrow!"

"Okay!" Bu Dugen suddenly turned his head, looked at Tuoba Jiefen in a daze, and said in a deep voice: "General Tuoba Jiefen, where are you?"

Tuoba Jiefen was helpless and said with a sigh: "Tuoba Jiefen is driven by the king."

Taiyuan County, Jinyang City.

The former Bingzhou Governor's Mansion has now become Dong Zhuo's temporary residence. Li Ru entered the hall with a fluttering sleeve and a graceful expression, and said to Dong Zhuo with joy: "Lord, good news."

Dong Zhuo, who was leaning on his seat to read a military book, looked up and asked happily: "What good news?"

Li Ru bowed and said, "The six-way coalition forces have fallen apart, haha."

"Has the coalition dispersed?" Dong Zhuo said, "Hedong is worry-free, good, very good!"

Li Ru smiled and said, "Now Ding Yuan is dead, Bingzhou has no master, so the lord is just right to take advantage of the situation and replace him."

Dong Zhuo said: "Well~~Wen Xiu has any tricks to help me take Bingzhou?"

Li Rudao: "If the lord wants to take Bingzhou, it will all be with Lu Bu. As far as the Confucians know, Zi Yan (Li Su's name is a name) and Lu Bu are fellow villagers. Moreover, Lu Bu is a greedy person by nature and likes female sex. Why don't the lord like him to please Zi Yan and bring gold, silver, wealth and beauty to talk about it?"

Dong Zhuoxi said happily: "I have heard that Lu Bu is brave and unparalleled in the world. If he can get his help, why worry about the big things going wrong?"

Li Rudao: "Now, Lu Bu is leading his army to station in Pingyang. The lord can write a letter and hand it to Zi Yan with a fast horse. He will let Zi Yan follow the plan and achieve success."
Chapter completed!