Time flies, half a month passes in a blink of an eye, and in the past ten days, Li Tong and Wanfu have gradually become accustomed to staying in the barracks. Maybe Hou Chang Gu Dexin is a person who cares about the old feelings, and for some reason, he takes care of Li Tong's brothers, and invites Li Tong's brothers to dinner every once in a while, and fights tooth sacrifices. Speaking from the heart, Li Tong has always been worried in his heart, the two of them are not related to each other, and Gu Dexin is so kind, which makes Li Tong very puzzled.

During this period, prisoners from Guanzhong and Guandong arrived in Dunhuang one after another, and each batch numbered from a few hundred to a few dozen, and many of them were heinous murderers. According to the ancient marquis, in order to deal with the Northern Xiongnu and expand the reserve forces in the border areas, the emperor Liu Zhuang issued an edict, which read: "Regardless of whether they were officials or people, those who committed capital crimes were reduced by one degree, and they were not allowed to be flogged or tortured, but they were all allowed to be filled with military camps and scattered by the armies of Liangzhou." ”

After Dou Gu, the commander-in-chief of the Western Expedition, received the edict, 1,500 people convicted of capital crimes were sent to Zhangye. According to the instructions of the edict, he dispatched 1,300 criminals to two places, Geng Gong in Dunhuang and Geng Zhong in Jiuquan, and 200 in Zhangye, where they were handed over to settle down. At the same time as the training in Tuntian, the Western Expeditionary Army was also expanding its troops, and recruited a group of soldiers in the five counties of Hexi. With the addition of the original soldiers and criminals, the number has exceeded 10,000, exceeding the total number when Dou Gu left Luoyang.

After rigorous training, all are faced with redistribution. According to experience, Li Tong had a gut feeling that someone was indeed taking care of him, and as expected, he and Wanfu were fortunate to be assigned to the baggage camp responsible for managing logistics. The reason is very strong, because he and Wanfu are literate. The illiteracy rate in this era was very high, and ordinary people were almost illiterate. There are only a few of the new batches of convicts who are literate and literate, and Li Tong and Wan Fu are very lucky, both of them are cultural people of this era.

The baggage battalion is a big obstacle for the troops under Geng Gong's jurisdiction, there are more than 50 soldiers in total, two chiefs and five commanders, Li Tong knows three of them, in addition to Chen Lian and Gao Ming, who are directly in charge of them, there is also a treasury secretary Tao who he just met some time ago. This Tao priest does not lead soldiers, he is the head of the warehouse, in charge of the daily food and clothing of the soldiers of Geng Gong's department, the number one fat poor in the army, but this person is very cautious, never deducts soldiers, plus he is easy-going, fair, so the popularity is the best. Li Tong and Wanfu are very familiar with him, and they often talk and laugh together.

The Tao priest took great care of the newcomers Li Tong and the others, not only arranging clean dormitories for them alone, but also distributing them with the best weapons and cowhide armor. The secretary Tao is less than forty this year, weak by nature, does not like to dance knives and guns, as soon as he is free, he will lock himself in the warehouse, wet ink and study Ying, hard to write, has densely written several volumes of bamboo slips.

Except for Li Tong and Wan Fu, most of the people in the baggage camp were illiterate, and they didn't know what he was writing all day long, so some people made fun of him for not being able to do enough and wanting to be a scholar. Na Tao doesn't care about what others say, and he still writes every day. Although Wanfu can read some words, after all, he is young and has a short reading time, and his knowledge of words is limited. Wanfu was very envious of Tao Si Priest writing and painting every day, one day when he was tidying up the warehouse, Wanfu saw that he was writing again, so he asked him: "Uncle Tao, you are so knowledgeable, you know so many words!" It's a pity that I don't have a lot of reading, so can you tell me about it? ”

Tao Zi usually likes this clever kid very much, so he joked: "My name is Tao most, Tao most, Tao most, self-absorbed also." I'm just writing these words to kill time, but it's useless. Little Liuzi, illiteracy has the advantage of being illiterate, alas, sometimes you can read more, but it will cause trouble. After that, his expression was a little gloomy.

Li Tong, who was tidying up the warehouse, heard some complaints that he had never met. His heart moved, and he glanced at Tao Shi, who was laughing with Wanfu, and always felt that this person was a little unusual, and he should not be an ordinary official. Li Tong pondered that this person was probably not as simple as he seemed, they were all people with stories!

Li Tong often saw Hou Chang Gu Dexin when he was working in the baggage camp, although Hou Chang's rank was not high, only equivalent to the platoon-level cadres of later generations, but he was the only one in this baggage camp. Li Tong is just a pawn, really counted, the names of the two people are really far apart, Gu Dexin will also take care of his identity in front of outsiders, it is not good to be too affectionate to Li Tong in front of everyone, every time they meet, they just nod and smile.

Recently, Li Tong has been wanting to ask Gu Dexin for a day off, mainly because he heard that several camel caravans from the Western Regions have come to Dunhuang one after another, and he really wants to see what kind of goods these Western Regions merchants have transported. However, due to the strong atmosphere of recent preparations for war, and a large number of military supplies were brought in from the rear every day, there were always sergeants coming in and out of the barracks of the Hou Commander, and they swallowed back every time the words came to their mouths. I didn't find the right opportunity several times. After a long time, Li Tong's thoughts about asking for leave gradually faded.

The life of the baggage battalion was relatively comfortable compared to the combat troops, and there was more leisure time, so Wanfu pestered Li Tong to teach him kung fu. Li Tong was also a happy person, because Wanfu had no foundation, so he began to teach him the grappling fighting techniques that were often practiced by the army in later generations, and began to teach him some introductory kung fu.

On this night, the moon was as bright as day. As usual, after Li Tong carefully instructed Wanfu to practice grappling in the playground, he let Wanfu practice by himself. Li Tong himself was not idle, and began to practice Muay Thai in the future against a special wooden stake. At night, both of them were very engaged in training, and they didn't notice that a tall officer was silently watching them not far from the playground.

The person who came was the Dunhuang Army Sima Geng Gong, after the completion of the office tonight, the moonlight broke through the window, Geng Gong couldn't help but think of his mother, wife and children, and couldn't sleep. He simply put on his clothes and walked out of the house. He unconsciously came to the training ground and saw two people from a distance, sometimes turning over, sometimes squatting on the crotch, practicing martial arts.

Who are these two? He thought to himself and quietly stepped forward. Walking to the front, he vaguely saw two teenagers, one big and one young, practicing hand fighting, one of them was practicing leg technique in front of a wooden stake, this person's leg technique was fierce, and the strange moves were something he had never seen in his life, which aroused his curiosity even more. Geng Gong looked at this person carefully, and saw that this person was tall and strong, but he was quite young and good-looking. On the day he was sent, Geng Gong had met from afar, but he had never spoken to him.

The playground was empty, Li Tong and Wan Fu saw someone coming, immediately stopped the drill, and looked at Geng Gong together, Li Tong recognized the person, so he took the lead in stepping forward to salute: "See Geng Sima!" Wanfu, who was a little stunned, reacted and quickly knelt down on one knee to salute. Geng Gong waved them up. Geng Gong took the initiative to greet Li Tong and asked, "Young man, what's your name?" ”

"Li Tong." Li Tong replied respectfully.

"Where are you from?" Geng Gong asked again.

"A native of Pingyang, Hedong." Li Tong replied again.

Geng Gong asked again: "Everyone else has rested, how can the two of you secretly practice by yourself?" ”

Li Tongwei groaned and replied: "If you go back to Sima, you are about to go on an expedition, and our brothers want to practice kung fu well, and one day make meritorious service to atone for their sins." ”

"Oh, I see." Geng Gong remained silent and asked, "What crime have you committed?" ”

"Kill." Li Tong replied.

Geng Gong couldn't help but be stunned, looked up and down at the handsome young man in front of him, and asked in disbelief: "Why did you kill someone, can you tell this official in detail?" ”

Li Tong replied: "If you want to listen, your subordinates can talk about it in detail." ”

Seeing Geng Gong nodding his head, Li Tong told his past. After Li Tong finished speaking, Geng Gong nodded slightly, and his cold face did not change. He was silent for a moment, not knowing what he was thinking. Finally, he waved his hand to let the two continue to practice, and went straight away. Li Tong and the Wanfu brothers were a little inexplicable, and they were confused for a while.

Two days later, the ignorant Li Tong was suddenly transferred to the cavalry battalion by Geng Gong and became a scout, and Wanfu, the kid, also became Geng Gong's herald's personal soldier. After the good luck of the two people was known by Hu Laosan, who was still looking for a way around, he only hated it......

————

On the first day of the second lunar month of the sixteenth year of Yongping, Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty officially issued an edict ordering all armies to go on the expedition. The battle horn for a large-scale counteroffensive against the northern Xiongnu sounded. The counteroffensive had a total of 60,000 troops, divided into four attacks: 12,000 cavalry of Jiuquan, Dunhuang, Zhangye and Lushuiqiang led by Dou Gu and Geng Zhong set out from Jiuquan and swept along the Qilian Mountains to the Hexi Corridor leading to the Western Regions; 10,000 cavalry of Wuwei, Longxi, Tianshui and Qiang led by Geng Bing and Qin Peng went out to live in Yansai (now Hara and Tu southeast of Ejina Banner, Inner Mongolia); Wu Tang, the general of Duliao, led 21,000 cavalry from the northeast of Hexi, the Qiang people of Xihe and the Southern Xiongnu out of Gaoquesai (southwest of the United Banner of the middle and rear of the middle and rear of Urad in Inner Mongolia); Cavalry Captain Lai Miao, Hu Wuhuan Captain Wen Mu led Taiyuan, Yanmen, Daijun, Shanggu, Yuyang, Youbeiping, Dingxiang County, Wuhuan, Xianbei 11,000 cavalry out of Pingcheng Fortress (now the ancient city in the northeast of Datong, Shanxi). The four-way soldiers and horses attacked in an all-round way.

It is said that the Xiongnu people are the Miao descendants of the Xia Hou clan, since ancient times, they live by water and grass, and live by animal husbandry, and there is no place to live in the city, and there is no industry to cultivate the fields and mulberry hemp. They shepherd mainly horses, cattle, sheep, donkeys, mules, camels, and sometimes they also shoot birds with bows, and catch voles and foxes. When the child can run, he will use the sheep as a horse and ride it one by one, and when he grows up, he will take the horse as his seat. Men, women and children, everyone is good at riding, good at dancing with knives and hammers, fighting for victory, brave and fierce. When the royal family of the Zhou Dynasty was in decline, they often invaded and brutalized, and the border people suffered greatly at that time.

During the Warring States Period, from Liaodong in the east, to the Tianshan Mountains in the west, the Xiongnu rushed left and right, swept Wuhuan, destroyed Xianbei, Fuqiang Hu, and dominated the vast northwest, resulting in the Great Wall of Qin, Han, Zhao, Wei and Yan rising one after another, and set up a special defense line.

Due to the continuous invasion of the Xiongnu and the endless border troubles, there were several large-scale wars in which the Han people took the initiative to attack the Xiongnu before the Eastern Han Dynasty: first, Zhou Xuan Wang Xingshi ordered the Xiongnu to crusade against the Xiongnu, resulting in "Siyi Binfu, called Zhongxing"; Second, after Qin destroyed the Six Kingdoms, Qin Shi Huang sent the general Meng Tian to lead hundreds of thousands of troops to attack the Xiongnu in the north and recover a large area of lost territory; Third, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered the general Wei Qing and the hussar general Huo Qubing to lead the army out of Shanggu (now southeast of Huailai, Hebei), Longxi, and Beidi (now the east bank of the Yellow River in the southwest of Wuzhong, Ningxia) for more than 2,000 li, until the Wolf Juxu Mountain (now Kent Mountain in the Mongolian People's Republic) and Linhanhai (in the territory of the Mongolian People's Republic today), forcing the Xiongnu to sue for peace and return.

The Xiongnu were a nomadic people, and they had a great characteristic when they started fighting: if they were victorious, they would forge ahead, and if they were defeated, they would flee. In this way, it will be difficult to destroy their living force. Therefore, the Xiongnu were troubled, and all dynasties failed to get rid of it. This time, Liu Zhuang followed the example of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to attack the Xiongnu, which was carefully considered and carefully arranged, and sent four troops to attack at the same time, attacking on all fronts, reflecting his grand ambition to eliminate border troubles, and also showing his new strategy and determination.

A few days after Liu Zhuang issued an edict to attack the Northern Xiongnu, he convened a meeting of the ministers of the court and China in the Deyang Hall of the North Palace to discuss the conquest. In order to familiarize the sixteen-year-old crown prince Liu Wei with military and political affairs as soon as possible, he asked the crown prince Liu Wei to follow him to the court and attend the meeting.

"Your Majesty's edict to crusade against the Northern Huns, in response to the will of heaven, will defeat the enemy, my emperor Shengming." As soon as he announced the topic of the meeting, Sikong Murong said.

"This time, the division is rejuvenated, and the people are obedient to the people's hearts, and the people are all applauding, and my emperor is wise." Situ Wang Min continued.

Liu Zhuang listened, frowned, glanced at the two of them, and said: "I love to listen to good words, human nature, and I am no exception; The words of praise are easy to say and love, but they are not beneficial to success. Zhu Aiqing should say more useful words, such as what is the prospect of this war? What could possibly go wrong? How to fix it? What is the end result? ”

Crown Prince Liu Wei listened to his father's words of guidance, stood up and said: "In the opinion of his sons, this battle should be in accordance with the will of heaven and the will of the people, and there is no doubt that he will win. The problem that should be paid attention to is that 'the outside must first be safe', and in order to keep the outside and the inside, we must strictly guard against two points: one is 'the bud tho does evil'? One is 'slander and evil'? In particular, we must guard against 'slandering and prospering', and don't succumb to loyal ministers and good generals, dig up the foundation of the wall, and destroy our Great Wall. ”

The prince is young, and although his words are naïve, he is also reasonable, and many ministers nod frequently and secretly praise.

Liu Zhuang didn't pick up his stubble, and at a glance he found Ban Gu mixed in the back row, pointed at him and said, "Ban Aiqing, what insight do you have?" "According to his official position, Ban Gu was not qualified to attend the meeting, and he was specially invited to attend the meeting.

He straightened his clothes, bowed down after leaving the class, and said: "Yuchen thinks that in addition to the thorough preparation of military, manpower, financial resources, and material resources, this campaign is very different from the previous campaigns. Even the crown prince knew this. ”

The crown prince Liu Wei grabbed the conversation and said: "I have heard the history of Ban Lingshi tell the story of the Xiongnu division into the north and the south. In the first month of the first year of the first year of the ancestor of the previous dynasty, the Xiongnu called Han Evil Shan to come to the dynasty. The ancestor emperor gave a palace maid with the surname Wang name Zhaojun to the Yan family, called Ning Hu Yan. Ninghu Yan gave birth to a boy, named Yitu Zhiyashi, who was the king of the Xiongnu right day. That Hu Han Xie Shan Yu also married the two daughters of the Hun magnate Huyan Wang, and the eldest daughter was born two sons: the eldest son and Mo Che, and the second son Nan Zhiyasi. The second daughter is the Da Yan family, and has four boys: the eldest son carved Tao Mo Gao, the second son and Mi Xu are all older than Mo Che, the third son Xian, and the fourth son Le are all bigger than the bag Zhiyasi. There is also a male celebrity born in the Yan family, ranking in front of the music. Most of these people were older than the Yitu Zhiya born to the Ning Hu Yan clan, and the Yitu Zhiya was only ranked first among the brothers. Hu Han Xie made a covenant before his death, and after his death, Shan Yu's position was passed on by his sons in turn. When it was passed on to the public opinion, it was passed on in turn to be the Yitu Zhiya who was born to Zhaojun, but the public opinion wanted to pass it on to his son, so he killed the Yitu Zhiyashi. After Yu's death, the consequences were passed on to his son Wuda Marquis Shan Yu. This caused great dissatisfaction among the eldest son of Nanzhiyas, who said: 'As far as the brother is concerned, he should pass on the wisdom of the tooth, and if he breaches the contract, he will kill the person who is the passon; I am great to the Son, and I am only to be passed on. Seeing that the public opinion was spread to his son, he led the 8 major departments under his jurisdiction of 50,000 horses to return to the Han in the 23rd year of Jianwu, and established himself as Shan Yu in December of the following year. After the Southern Xiongnu returned to the Han Dynasty, they joined forces with our dynasty to fight against the Northern Xiongnu unprecedentedly. Therefore, Ban Lingshi said that the timing was well chosen, which was very different from the previous dynasty, and what he said was extremely true. ”

Ban Gu heard the crown prince Liu Wei talk about this, and then said: "Based on the above, it is likely that there will be a big problem in the development of the war situation, which can also be called the end of the war: the Northern Xiongnu came to sue for peace, did they agree, or continue to fight? promised to sue for peace, fearing that it would anger the Southern Xiongnu; If you don't agree, what year and month will you resist? This is a problem that must be considered before it can be properly addressed. ”

"The Northern Xiongnu is really a country of deceit, and they have no heart for the Han, and they must come to ask for peace with false intentions, and they must not agree." A civil servant here said.

"The Northern Xiongnu have done a lot of evil, and the blood debt must be repaid with blood, and if it is not completely subdued by force, I will not have peace. If he sends an envoy to sue for peace, he will simply kill him, and he will never make peace. Another military attache in the room answered.

"I don't think it's easy to do." Bangu said.

"What about that?" Prince Liu Wei asked.

"The ministers often think that since the Han Dynasty, they have used troops to prevent trouble, and the Lord is in the Xiongnu. The way of Suiyu is different: either to repair the text to reconcile it, or to use force to levy it, or to marry a man and a daughter, and give bribes, or to make him a minister and a son to serve him. Although flexion and stretch are impermanent and vary from time to time, there is no one who does not associate with him. Ban Gu said, "Therefore, Emperor Guangwu was in power, restored the old good, and sent several envoys, one after another. Now the reason why the teachers are moving is because of the Xiongnu. If it is necessary to use the way of force, the Huns will stop their troubles and send envoys to make peace, and I will also be an envoy to negotiate with them, so as to understand my desire for peace, that the Lord is faithful, and that they will be regular in the rites of the Holy Court, and that they will be free from their barbaric nature. If you refuse to negotiate, and the North will become strong again in the future, and smoke and dust will rise again, then you will want to negotiate peace, and it will be too late. It is better to fight with war, to make peace with peace, and to take the strategy of taking both hands at the same time, as appropriate. ”

When Ban Gu spoke, Liu Zhuang couldn't stop nodding his head in approval. After Ban Gu finished speaking, he solemnly said: "It is an extraordinary move to mobilize the people, and it is forced to do it. I have already said that this attack on the Northern Xiongnu is to fight and finally achieve the goal of peace, how can he be? At present, the war has begun, the prospect is uncertain, and the day of peace is still far from the Xiongnu. I sincerely hope that Zhu Aiqing will unite sincerely, go all out, revolve around the war, do everything well, strive for victory, and never give up until the day of peace. Let me wait to listen to the triumphant song and write a chapter in history! ”

"Long live my emperor, long live, long live!" The shouts immediately resounded throughout the entire Deyang Palace, and the ministers were excited and excited.

————

The Qilian Mountains, which are covered with snow all year round, stretch for thousands of miles from east to west from Wuqiao Ridge to Dangjin Pass in the west. The mountains are made up of large mountains, and they are majestic and magnificent. Between the mountains, many, many canyons are formed. There is water and grass in the canyon, and it is a good place for herdsmen to live happily.

Every year at the turn of spring and summer, the Huns graze here, wait for the livestock to eat up the grass in the canyon, and then move to the vast steppe. Whenever in the autumn and winter season, the grasslands were barren and the weather was cold, and they could not graze, so the Huns drove sheep, cattle, horses, camels, donkeys, mules and other livestock into the valley in groups. The deep mountains and valleys can store forage, the mountains block the wind, and the weather is warmer, so you can live here for a winter. In the spring and summer of the following year, they switched to grazing on the prairie.

After the Southern Xiongnu returned to the Han Dynasty, the Northern Xiongnu were placed under the Zuo Xian Wang, the Right Xian Wang, the Left Valley Li King, the Right Valley Li King, the Left Sun Chase King, the Right Sun Chase King, the Left Wen Yu Wang, the Right Wen Yu Wang, the Left Gradually Wang, the Right General Wang, the Left Big Household, the Right Big Household, the Left Bone Duhou, the Right Bone Duhou, and the Bone Du Hou assisted the government. The kings on the left and right must be members of the family alone, and the rest of the major official positions are hereditary by the four nobles of the Huyan clan, the Lan clan, the Xubu clan, and the Qiulin clan. The Huyan clan once married the second daughter of Huhan Evil Shan Yu at the same time, and five Shan Yu were born to these two daughters after the Huhan Evil Queen, and among the nobles, the Huyan clan was the most powerful. The kings of the Xiongnu and the major nobles had fiefs, and the territory of the Huyan clan stretched from Shangjun (now Yulin, Shaanxi) in the east to the Dayue clan in the west, with a vast territory. This area of Qilian Mountain is naturally a place where King Huyan often sets foot in.

The target of the attack led by Dou Gu and Geng Zhong was the various departments of the King of Huyan, and the training of troops in Zhangye, Jiuquan, and Dunhuang Tuntian was arranged for this goal. Because the front line between Luoyang and Zhangye was 3,600 miles apart, on the sixth day of the second month, Dou Gu received the emperor's holy decree. Emperor Liu Zhuang issued an edict, and they quickly occupied the Hexi Corridor, the choke point leading to the Western Regions, and formed a siege of Zheluohan Mountain, which was occupied by King Huyan. On the tenth day of the second month, after Dou Gu led his army to set up camp in the Hexi Corridor, he held a meeting in Zhangye to discuss the battle plan with King Huyan.

Dou Gu stood tall in the center of the tent, and said in a deep voice to the generals below: "King Huyan is the general of the Northern Xiongnu, serving as the Marquis of the Gudu, and the power is full of the Xiongnu. The tribe he led was vast, numerous, strong, and treacherous, scheming, and strong in martial arts, which was very difficult to deal with. We are fighting against a formidable opponent, and to win, we need to have a careful battle plan. ”

The fake Sima Banchao of the Chinese army hated King Huyan to the bone, and said indignantly: "King Huyan is vicious, and the wine vessel he uses is a human skull. He has invaded the most places with us, and this time we must take care of him and take back all the territories occupied by the Huns. ”

Geng Zhong, the commander of the cavalry, suggested: "The Luohan Mountains are crisscrossed by ravines, and the terrain is complex, so careful reconnaissance is required. ”

Dou Gu's attendant Guo Sui attended the meeting as an observer, and also came up with an idea: "Dashuai, the spring is warm now, it is the Hun transition season, and his subordinates think that they are trapped in the mountains, there is no need to attack, and when the livestock and forage are gone, they will run out like rats foraging for food, and if they are beaten again, they will surely win." ”

"It is good to besiege and force them to break through, but there are also passages in the mountains, and all mountain passes must be held to prevent them from escaping." Ban Chao added.

"The siege forces the northern captives to break through and strictly prevent the enemy from escaping, you can consider it, but you can't give up the initiative to attack and go straight to the lair of King Huyan. Regardless of the plan, it is necessary to reconnoiter the terrain and grasp the enemy's situation. In the end, the commander-in-chief, Dou Gu, the commander of Fengche, summed up concisely and forcefully.

"Yes, don't give up the initiative to attack, and go straight to King Huyan's lair!"

"Capture King Huyan alive and severely punish King Huyan!"

The atmosphere of the meeting was immediately high. In the end, Dou Gu arranged it like this again, and then the meeting ended.

(To be continued)