Chapter 322 The troops are divided into two groups
Yulin Pass, on the eve of the expedition.

Black Bear looked at the cowhide map, recalled the satellite map information in his memory, and compared the two.

If you want to attack the Western tribes, there are currently two ways.

One way is to take the Shuofang Official Road, advance northward to the southern bank of the Yellow River, and then advance upstream along both sides of the Yellow River.

However, this would certainly lead to a clash with the Western Xianbei first, and the probability of the other party offering to allow passage in a friendly manner is low.

This is also the reason why the Western tribes have the courage to fight, because they cannot go out of the border and into the grassland to attack the Western tribes.

If they insisted on going out of the Great Wall and taking the Hequ route to attack Xitao, their military communication lines with the rear would be intercepted and interfered with by the Xianbei people. Also, the transportation of the spoils and their evacuation from the sight of the Xianbei people would provoke them to turn against them. Wouldn't that?

Therefore, if one wants to attack the various tribes in the western part of the country while also wanting to safely deliver the spoils to Sai Nei and Guanzhong, the only option is to go through Sai Nei.

South of the Great Wall, there is a road running east-west.

You can go directly from Shangjun to Beidi County... During the Western Han Dynasty, the real Beidi County was located in Yinchuan. Later, when the border counties moved inland, Beidi County also moved inland. At least in the political map, the imperial court still owned Beidi County.

Therefore, this battle is still fought by dividing the troops and attacking from both sides.

Ma Chao and Zhang Xiu took the Sai Nei Road, focusing on building roads and post stations to facilitate the subsequent rescue and reorganization of the population and captives to migrate to Guanzhong along this road.

This road is like a '7', merging into Guanzhong in the south.

Ma Chao and Zhang Xiu prepared the road first, and the subsequent miners, the suicide soldiers from the two counties, a mixture of infantry and cavalry, would move westward along this road.

During the march of 10,000 people, roads and camps along the way were built to facilitate the subsequent migration of human and livestock groups.

But his situation was simple. He, together with Zhang Liao and Liu Bao, led 5,000 cavalrymen north along the Shuofang Road, ignoring the Xianbei. After reaching the inhabited areas on both sides of the Yellow River, they went upstream.

He acted as the hammer and drove the Western tribes southward.

After Ma Chao, Zhang Xiu, Yan Xing, Lu Chang and others have moved into place, they will attack from the north and south. Even if they cannot wipe out the Western forces in one go, they will at least inflict heavy damage on the enemy.

Then, depending on the changes in the situation, decide whether to declare war on the Western Xianbei in the Shuofang region.

Perhaps before that time comes, war will break out when I go north through Shuofang.

As he was repeatedly deducing, the time gradually came to the fourth watch.

Ma Chao strode forward wearing his signature basin-collar armor tied with a red rope, helmet in hand, and Zhang Xiu also accompanied him.

In the barracks, after the two of them sat down, Black Bear said, "The matter of the border will be decided by you, brother. I have sent a message to Tianshui County. If nothing unexpected happens, Liu Ye will recruit knights from Tianshui, Anding, and Longxi counties, at least 3,000 knights."

As he spoke, Black Bear's eyes fell on Zhang Xiu: "Most of General Zhang's original troops have been incorporated by me. This time, the knights of the three eastern counties of Liang Province will be under the command of the general."

"The last general takes orders."

Zhang Xiu stood up and bowed. A personal soldier beside Hei Xiong came forward and put the troop mobilization token and documents on a plate and handed it to Zhang Xiu.

The token for mobilizing troops is the tiger talisman, which was recently carved by Lu Bu as pure copper. It has inlaid gold and silver patterns and words on it.

Zhang Xiu was given three tiger talismans, which symbolized the control over the troops of the three eastern counties of Liangzhou.

The other three tiger talismans have been sent to Tianshui. Although the military command can be transferred with official documents now, establishing the authority of the tiger talismans earlier can save a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Zhang Xiu took the wooden tray, thanked him again and sat down.

Ma Chao looked at Black Bear eagerly. Black Bear knew what he was thinking and said, "You are the Protector of the Qiang. You are in charge of recruiting the Qiang and Hu people in Liang Province and the Qiang people in the border areas. You don't need to ask me about this. But you must control the followers you have recruited, otherwise I will punish you."

"Yes, I will finally understand."

Ma Chao straightened his back and bowed. As long as they were willing to give up their power, as long as there were a few Qiang slaves in the tribes along the way, they would be mixed-race Qiangs, and he would have reason to intervene.

Looking at Ma Chao's appearance, Black Bear felt that in this battle, Ma Chao was very likely to give him a surprise.

After thinking for a while, he raised his hand and said, "That's it. Brother, please consult with Liu Ye and General Zhang on the matter of the south."

"Yes, I will retire at the end."

Ma Chao stood up, and Zhang Xiu put away the tiger talisman and documents, then bowed and left.

After they went out, Black Bear got up and prepared to wash.

While he was washing, Liu Bao came to see him wearing gorgeous leather armor, and stood by him, holding a gilded helmet and waiting patiently.

Black Bear changed into a new headscarf and wiped the water off his cheeks before looking at Liu Bao: "How is the Chanyu preparing?"

"The carriages and horses are ready, and we can leave the camp at any time."

Liu Bao bent slightly and raised his chin: "Grand Marshal, I am worried that the Xianbei will attack us."

"No problem."

Black Bear couldn't help but laugh as he spoke. This time was different from before.

With a tank, he could command the battlefield at close range.

You can remotely control puppet knights such as Lu Bu and Gao Shun to accurately kill generals and capture flags.

Besides, he was just passing through, and the Xianbei people would not be too hostile.

Seeing that Black Bear said it was okay, Liu Bao said, "The young king has informed all the tribes in the country to be on guard against the Xianbei's harassment. The earliest is early August, and the latest is September. The country can gather 70,000 to 80,000 knights."

Liu Bao looked hopeful: "Please don't be so reserved, Grand Marshal, and drive me as far as you can."

"When the opportunity arises, I will lead the Han-Xiongnu coalition to defeat the Xianbei."

Black Bear also made a promise, but normally it would take two or three years of confrontation and stalemate to curb and defeat the Xianbei's custom of westward expansion.

Only by repeatedly strangling them could the Xianbei be driven out of the Hetao region.

In fact, three years later, he was confident that he could easily expel the Xianbei.

More than a hundred puppet knights roamed the winter, and the tribal settlements could not stop them at all, and those who could stop them could not save fodder for the winter.

After getting the promise, Liu Bao said nothing more and followed Black Bear onto the chariot, which headed north.

In the rear carriage, a personal soldier with excellent cooking skills was cooking breakfast.

When the chariot arrived at the camp, breakfast was ready.

At this time, the sky gradually brightened, and Black Bear stood on the command platform at the front of the car and looked around.

The officers and soldiers in the various military camps had no urgent need to eat breakfast, as they were all packing their vehicles and luggage.

In this expedition, there were more than 3,000 primitive horse-drawn carts of various types.

There were only more than 5,000 soldiers and more than 17,000 horses of various types.

Theoretically speaking, it is also very quick to set up camp at night, and you can just camp around the car.

A dozen miles outside the Yulin Great Wall, there is an abandoned city of Qiuci.

Ma Teng stood on the top of the city wall and looked at the military camps around him. From afar, he saw the four-color knights of Black Bear setting off first.

These were four battalions of knights, each battalion having only 200 knights riding in the front, and the remaining knights mostly driving horse-drawn carts. The other horses were either used to pull the carts, or rode empty with only the reins tied to the horse-drawn carts.

Behind the four battalions of knights were more than 2,000 Hun knights.

Except for more than 500 Hun knights wearing iron armor, the other knights were wearing light leather armor.

After the original Chanyu's eagle flag was captured by Black Bear, Liu Bao now uses the traditional Huns' yellow dragon flag and black dragon flag as his banner.

In fact, both are black dragons, but one has a yellow background and the other has a white background.

Ma Teng looked out for a long time, and said with inexplicable emotion: "I never thought that I would see the Han army marching out of the border again in my lifetime."

The military officers on both sides also had confused expressions, and most of them were very emotional. Ma Teng just felt a little regretful that he could not participate, and his other sons and Pang De did not participate either.

The four color knights are now going out of the border. The most elite black flag team is still in closed camp training, and now they are training in culture-related courses.

It will probably be after autumn that the Black Flag Team of 2,000 people will be able to head north to join the war.

While Ma Teng was thinking, he heard someone beside him exclaim in a low voice: "My Lord, look, it's Taishi Wengong!"

A few people followed the direction he pointed and saw several knights abandoning their bags and fleeing northward. Tai Shi Wengong rode his horse at full speed and caught up with those knights.

Although it was difficult to see clearly, I could only see that the retreating knights stopped and Tai Shi Wengong turned back to the south.

"It must be a Xianbei spy."

Ma Teng made a judgment and said to his attendants: "We must conduct a strict inspection in all directions. No one can leave the border within half a month."

"Here."

Everyone bowed and saluted, as this was something they had been repeatedly reminded of.

As their sights focused, Black Bear's chariot slowly moved north.

On the command platform at the front of the car, Black Bear had no intention of sitting still. He stood at the guardrail, looking north, holding the guardrail with both hands.

Looking far ahead, ignoring both sides of the road, one feels as if he is piloting the Dragon God.

The wind blows on my face and flags flutter all around me.

The army walked along the winding road, and because this road had not been used by so many people for a long time, there was not much dust.

The road crushed by the chariot wheels is the northern section of the Qin Straight Road.

The Qin Straight Road connects to Wuyuan in the north. Follow the road to the south bank of the Yellow River and then turn west.

There is no possibility of getting lost.

Just find the Yellow River and then head west... Of course, you also need to grab some more guides. The Yellow River has many tributaries in Hetao, and these tributaries will eventually merge together.

Therefore, there are many large areas of puddles and swamps on both sides of the Yellow River, which is naturally not conducive to the passage of large armies.

Heading north, they would rest for a while every thirty or forty miles to make it easier for the riders to change horses and for the horses to replenish their feed.

By the time we had our third break, it was already around five or six in the afternoon.

The sun was still scorching, but in order to maintain the horses' strength, they had to set out early.

The horses roamed in groups and would only return to the military camp to spend the night when it got dark.

It was only after nightfall that Black Bear rode his Yingan horse to scout northward.

Heading north along the straight road, he arrived near Wuyuan before midnight.

Many cities, garrisons, and civilian settlements were abandoned in the surrounding areas, but many of them were reopened by the Xianbei people.

Either a human population or a captive herd of animals.

Unfortunately, when they were near Wuyuan, Lu Bu did not see any unusual signs. After Black Bear confirmed that the Xianbei camps were empty and unprepared, he galloped south along the straight road.

The grand gathering of the western Xianbei was located in Shuofang, and the grand gathering of the central Xianbei was located in Yunzhong.

As a result, the once prosperous Wuyuan fell into decline and no longer had any large gatherings.

After reconnaissance and eliminating all danger, Black Bear returned to the marching camp at four o'clock.

The camp has started its morning horse grazing. The horses in the camp are roaming around again, and the soldiers in the camp have started to eat dry food.

After Black Bear inspected the camp, he met Zhang Liao and asked, "Where do you think the Xianbei will stop our army?"

Zhang Liao immediately took out the cowhide map he carried with him and spread it out. He lowered his brows and observed it for a moment before answering, "Given the efficiency of the Xianbei in recruiting men, I think they are unable to intercept our army. At most, they will take the opportunity to extort us. If our army shows weakness, the Xianbei will surely come forward to bully us."

The biggest advantage of marching into Xitao is that we can just march along the inner road along the Yellow River.

Wuyuan is on the north bank of the Yellow River. There is no need to cross the river. There is a road on the south bank that leads directly to Xitao.

Even if there are some tidal flats, swamps and wetlands, these areas will not be too large because they are close to the Yellow River and have smooth drainage, so there will not be too exaggerated swamps.

Zhang Liao lowered his brows and looked at the map. He raised his hand and pointed at Shuofang County between Shuofang and Wuyuan counties. "Our army is small but elite. Given the current internal situation of the Xianbei tribes, no one dares to fight us head-on. I am worried that the Xianbei will station troops in Shuofang City and harass us, which will slow down our march."

There is no shortage of cities on both sides of the Yellow River, and the last batch of soldiers and civilians from Shuofang and Wuyuan migrated inland only thirty years ago.

Later, the Xianbei people took over these cities, so even though the cities were not properly maintained and repaired, their basic city defense functions were still intact.

Black Bear also looked at Zhang Liao's map and raised his hand to point at Shuofang City: "Then I need to slightly adjust my marching schedule. When I pass Shuofang City, I will take fewer breaks and travel a longer distance. How about 50 miles away from Shuofang City?"

Zhang Liao weighed the options in his mind and said, "Your Majesty's strategy is sound, but I have two concerns. First, the soldiers and horses are tired, and second, showing weakness to the enemy will arouse the Xianbei's fierceness."

He glanced at the black bear's profile and said, "The Xianbei are still strong at the moment. Even if we win a battle with them, the gains will be meager and it will be difficult to expand our victory. I think it is not advisable to divide our forces and fight fiercely before we conquer all the tribes in Hexi."

"Yes, there is no benefit in winning the war. Instead, it will make the Xianbei people wary and fearful."

Black Bear raised his hand and continued to point at Shuofang City: "So, we still have to pay to buy our way through."

Zhang Liao did not comment on this. He felt that any battle with the Xianbei people now would be a loss.

Black Bear had no objection to paying for his passage. After all, he carried so many gold coins with him that he could spend them at any time and then take them back.

As for the bad reputation... there's nothing bad about it. Any party who is asked to deal with this kind of thing will agree to spend money.

Things that can be solved by spending money are actually trivial matters that are not worth mentioning.

Black Bear had made up his mind, so he said to Zhang Liao: "Today, Wenyuan will be the commander of the front troops, in charge of the Blue and Red Battalions."

"The last general takes orders."

Zhang Liao saluted and watched the black bear leave.

Zhang Liao was somewhat confident that he could pass through Shuofang safely.

The reason was that their own troops were small and elite, and no one from the Xianbei tribes was willing to fight with them in a consumption battle.

The Xianbei had no powerful leader, and the leaders of each tribe were elected from within. They lacked a strong leader who could force other tribes to attack first and die.

In addition to the sordid feud between the Western Xianbei and the Hexi tribes, there would probably be no emotional barriers at this time to paying a sum of money and sending 5,000 cavalrymen to fight the Hexi tribes.

Probably only when the Hexi tribes could no longer resist and the Xianbei people had completed their initial mobilization would they truly intervene in this war.

The army marched cautiously in this way, and four days later it arrived at Heyin City in Wuyuan County.

The south of the mountains and the north of the water are called Yang. As the name suggests, Heyin City is a city on the south bank of the Yellow River.

This is also the ferry leading to Wuyuan City on the north bank. There are still more than a dozen boats at the ferry.

But there was no need to go to the north bank, so the army turned west here and slowly advanced along the south bank road.

The surrounding Xianbei people also evacuated earlier, so that although there seemed to be cities on both sides of the river, there were no people on the roads and fields, as if it was a no-man's land.

Then they marched another thirty miles or more, and the whole army formed a camp around the chariots.

Black Bear had trouble sleeping tonight because Shuofang City was forty or fifty miles to the west of here.

The county seat of Shuofang County was in Linrong City further west, and Shuofang City was located between Shuofang County and Wuyuan County.

The county seat is in the west, naturally to strengthen the defense of the west.

(End of this chapter)