The casualties of the Xinxi Liang army in this battle were mainly concentrated in Shenlong's surprise attack from the mountains and the interspersed with Yu poison's fierce penetration, and they paid great sacrifices in order to encircle and annihilate the Huns.

Three thousand of the Huns were killed on the battlefield, while the remaining more than 1,000 were killed for refusing to surrender on the way to escape, and more than 1,000 were captured. This loss of this amount was completely devastating for the Huns, who had a limited population.

Fortunately, the 4,000 soldiers and horses of the Xiongnu after the merger wasted a lot of strength, filled some pits, and fled like a wind at the expense of the horses.

These people temporarily retreated to the city of Gaonu and became the enemy's reliant refuge in their stubborn resistance.

Most of the rest of the rout lost their horses, so they could only flee into the mountains, and in the end, they were not captured alive, and it was estimated that they would be hungry and cold. It will be handed over to the free pursuit arrangement of the unseeded Qiang.

Zhang Ji commanded the army to screen and guard the prisoners, and it was easy to identify Zuo Yulu Wang and his nephew, these two important prisoners must be well guarded and dealt with until the end of the battle.

Of course, the eastern flank of the New Xiliang Army, which had to hold many prisoners and had a certain amount of damage, was temporarily in a state of rest. But they have opened the door to reclaim the Upper County.

The news of King Lu's defeat soon spread back to Gaonu City, and King Lu on the right panicked and failed to control the tongue of the rout. Soon, the leaders of the various clans entrenched here heard the news of the defeat of Zuo Yu Lu Wang and the other party's use of troops like gods.

The leaders of the various ethnic groups who were urgently summoned were already good at riding the wall, and this time they simply abandoned the Huns and returned to their respective homes.

Even some Qiang tribes, seeing that they had no seed Qiang to gain benefits, hurriedly sent envoys to invite the Han army to the Northern Expedition to ensure that they would coordinate their troops and be the pioneers of the Han Dynasty.

Zhang Lu, Su Ze, Xue Xia and others have been waiting for a long time. They gathered 15,000 Tuntian troops and 20,000 people in Tuntian, and advanced at high speed along the repaired Qinzhi Road and Han Zhidao.

When they arrived at the Yellow Emperor's Mausoleum on Qiaoshan and the banks of Luoshui, they set up a small supply base. It was also the end of the outpost and the rest road, and further north was enemy territory.

However, due to the great victory on the Eastern Front, the remnants of the Xiongnu army had lost their hearts and most of them retreated to the vicinity of Gaonu City, so they did not encounter organized enemy resistance along the way.

On the contrary, everywhere they went, they were warmly welcomed by small Qiang tribes, and Han slaves broke free from their shackles and defected.

When the road was bumpy and the stream blocked the way, the engineering troops showed these people how miracles were born.

On the one hand, some settlements that were not known to the Han Dynasty were recorded on bamboo slips and silk maps, and on the other hand, a small number of soldiers and horses were arranged to celebrate with them.

Zhang Lu had accumulated a lot of precious salt, ceramics, tools and other commodities through the channels of the merchant gangs from all over the world, and soon established close contacts with these settlements.

In this way, after ten days, Zhang Lu and others smoothly advanced more than 200 miles, approaching the vicinity of Gaonu City, where the Huns were entrenched.

The Xiongnu gathered 7,000 Xiongnu soldiers, 5,000 miscellaneous soldiers, and 3,500 slaves and vassal armies under King Lu.

His total strength is a little Zhang Lu not to mention, and the forces of all parties have long been dissatisfied with the Huns' oppression of other tribes, and they are almost in a fire for supplies and space in private.

As early as the fall of King Zuo Yulu, he arranged for a few elite escorts to escort the tribes and livestock to the north. Now, even the Hun soldiers are homesick and bent on going north early to reunite with their families.

If it is only an internal contradiction, the right king of Lu can still rely on his powerful subordinates to suppress it for the time being. However, the upcoming Zhang Lu and others actively mobilized the tribes that took refuge in them and used various ways to publicize the magnanimity of the Xinxi Liang Army.

Many small and medium-sized tribes have long been integrated into the Han economic circle, and over time, they have gradually become sinicized, and they have long given up the idea of opposing the Central Plains. Some of the larger tribes were also demoralized, and gradually some people slipped away and stopped working for the Huns.

After several small-scale rebellions, more than 500 people went out of the city and surrendered, the king of Youyu Lu did not dare to let other tribes go out of the city to reconnoitre, except for the Xiongnu soldiers, but sent people to monitor them.

Two or three days later, Zhang Ji, Yu Poison and Quan Wuxian Qiang completed their rest and recuperated, and also arrived at Gaonu City with 15,000 soldiers and horses.

After Zhang Lu and Zhang Ji met, a military meeting was held to discuss the next arrangements and countermeasures.

Zhang Lu said: "The soldiers and horses he led were close for 500 miles, and it was very smooth. Not only did there be no war losses and attrition, but on the contrary, 30,000 people were absorbed, and 3,000 or 4,000 armed people of all ethnic groups were absorbed. ”

Zhang Ji said: "This is the result of the ambition and benevolent government of the monarch and the lord of Weiyang, even the Hu people are attracted and influenced, which can be described as an immortal achievement."

Xue Xia said: "In the next 20 years, I have always told me that the frontier is withering day by day, the officials are arrogant and do evil, and the Han and Qiang people have repeatedly rebelled, thinking that the world will fall. I really didn't expect that the presence of the lord really reversed the general trend. ”

Zhang Ji said: "Now it is actually only the first step, how to resettle all ethnic groups, how to develop the county, is quite a challenging thing. However, the most important thing for the time being is the military aspect. ”

Zhang Lu said: "Our army has been approaching Gaonu City for five days, and judging from the intelligence of all parties, the other party only has the strength to defend the city in the turtle shrinkage, and there are many internal contradictions. After our division was united, the morale was high, the supplies were sufficient, and the number of soldiers alone was close to 30,000, and we could consider completely annihilating the enemy here. ”

Shen Long and Yu Poison also agreed, if this group of enemy soldiers was annihilated, then there would be no opponent who could stop them in a short period of time further north.

Su Ze, who had never made a prominent performance in the military aspect, proposed another method: "I think that in this case, our army can persuade the enemy to surrender." At the same time, he persuaded the various departments to buy and divide, and strive to take one or two city gates. ”

"According to the intelligence of those who surrendered before, there are only 7,000 Hun soldiers in the city, and once the incident starts, there is no strength to both suppress and repel our army. And I judged that the other side would definitely flee north in panic, and our army could pursue and rout the troops, which would be easier. ”

Zhang Lu said: "I have discussed these two plans with Master Su several times, and I think they are more suitable, what suggestions do you have?"

Shen Long and Yu Poison, who had already supported the siege of the city, did not make much speeches, and Xue Xia was a newcomer, so he did not look bad about the military affairs and had no opinions. It is equivalent to handing it over to Zhang Ji to analyze and analyze and see what his opinion is.

Zhang Ji thought for a while, and was worried for a while. Zhang Lu saw that the situation was a little tangled, and added:

"Actually, both methods are good, I think the advantage of the former is that it can completely annihilate the enemy. The latter option can reduce our losses. If there's anything else you can do, you'll all have an idea. ”

Yu Poison thought for a while and said, "If it is easier to take Gaonu City, it means that our army can withdraw and continue to quickly approach north. It's just that if the main force of the enemy army is not removed, I am afraid that there will be a big battle. ”

Zhang Ji listened to Yu Poison's words, a gleam appeared in his eyes, and he said with a little excitement: "I see! I see! ”

Everyone was surprised and hurriedly asked Zhang Ji what he had thought.