Categorically rejecting the peace negotiations proposed by the Xiongnu jackals, Xiang Kang of course had only one purpose, that is, to completely anger the Xiongnu and use the means of economic blockade to force the Xiongnu to dispatch the main force to fight a decisive battle with the Han army on the border, but Xiang Kang said a few hard words lightly, but the military and civilians in northern Xinjiang suffered greatly because of this, and also paid an extremely heavy price for Xiang Kang and the Han Ting's strategic plan.

Since the end of April of that year, as of the first day of July, in just over two months, the Hun cavalry under the command of the Xiongnu Zuoxian King has invaded and harassed the Han land more than 90 times, and the average number has reached more than once a day, burning and looting, raping ** women, destroying farmland, burning villages, plundering people and livestock, attacking the border sentry beacon of the Han army, poisoning people and ghosts, and committing heinous crimes, killing more than 10,000 soldiers and civilians on the border of the Han Dynasty, and robbing cattle and sheep of money and grain can not be counted. Many areas where the Han army was relatively weak were directly turned into no man's land, and the border was full of white bones, corpses were everywhere, ruins were everywhere, and villages and markets burned by the Xiongnu were everywhere, and the people in the frontier were miserable and mournful.

During this period, the response strategy adopted by the Han army in the middle of Northern Xinjiang under Li Zuoche was always to clear the wilderness, once the beacon tower sounded the alarm, it immediately gathered people and people to stick to the camp and city, and the loss was relatively small; Gongsun Tong and Tao Xi led the Han army of the Eastern Road chose to fight back heroically and resolutely meet the battle, but because the Hun cavalry was too powerful, the Han army on the East Road even if it won the battle and the results were small, and it could not decide the overall situation.

In the end, Xiang Kang really couldn't stand it anymore, and personally ordered Gongsun Tong and Tao Xi to follow Li Zuoche and adopt the strategy of fortifying the wall and clearing the wilderness to deal with the attack of the Hun light cavalry.

Fortunately, although Gongsun Tong and Tao Xi are more impulsive, they are very effective in combating smuggling, and they have always firmly blocked the border trade for the Han Dynasty, and did not let the border smuggling run rampant again, Li Zuoche also did a very good job in this regard, even if the Xiongnu grabbed a lot of materials by force, cloth, salt and food and other necessities have always been in a state of shortage, and the iron tools strictly managed by the Han army have almost no gains, so the Xiongnu seem to be strong on the surface, Internally, however, they are still suffering from a lack of supplies.

On the one hand, there was a strong cry of the tribal people thirsting for necessities of life, and on the other hand, there was a huge pressure from Mao Dun, repeatedly asking him to step up pressure on the Han frontier and force the Han court to loosen the border ban, but the Han army gritted its teeth, and would rather live in peace day and night than make any concessions, and at the same time, it was becoming more and more difficult to grab money, food and materials.

In the middle of July, because the Han army all adopted the strategy of clearing the wilderness, and at the same time, the frontier people of the Han Dynasty also learned a lesson, and hoarded materials in various camps and cities early, and immediately fled into the fort to hide when they saw the Xiongnu attacking, and in ten days, the Hun cavalry did not grab anything decent, and King Zuoxian was completely unable to hold his breath, and after a little discussion with several subordinates, he simply decided to gather 60,000 elites to besiege Gaoliucheng in Daijun, intending to break through the city and do a big business.

The besieged Gaoliu defenders of course asked Li Zuoche for help at the first time, and Xiang Kang personally arranged for Li Zuoche's two deputies, Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Guan, were also very excited, and immediately asked Li Zuoche for orders to save Gao Liu, and also took the opportunity to fight a decisive battle with the main force of Zuo Xianwang. However, Li Zuoche categorically rejected the suggestion of the Xiang brothers, shook his head and said: "We can't send troops, first, we can use less than 30,000 mobile troops now, and we can't ensure the chance of victory when we encounter the elite under the command of King Zuoxian, and second, even if we win this battle, we will only have Your Majesty's strategic plan, so that the Xiongnu will not dare to send all the main forces south this winter." ”

"What about Takayanagi?" Xiang Zhuang said: "There are only more than 2,000 defenders in Gaoliu City, how can it be possible to stop the 60,000 main force of the Xiongnu? ”

Li Zuoche was silent, and only after a while did he say slowly: "Gaoliu is just a small township-level city, and we can afford to lose. ”

Xiang Zhuang was stunned, and then asked, "Guangwujun, listen to your tone, do you want to deliberately sacrifice the lives of the soldiers and civilians in Gaoliu City?" ”

"If we sabotage His Majesty's strategic plan, the losses will only be even heavier in the future." Li Zuoche replied expressionlessly: "The current situation is that we are not afraid that the main force of the Huns will go south, but we are afraid that the Huns, like in the past few months, will continue to harass our frontiers with small troops, fight and run, lead our noses and turn around, in order to give the main force of the Huns the courage to go south, sacrificing a small city of Gaoliu, it is definitely worth it." Those who have been good at using soldiers since ancient times will never mind the gains and losses of one city or one place. ”

It was Xiang Zhuang's turn to be silent with Xiang Guan, and Li Zuoche said again: "Don't worry, we may not be able to defend Gaoliu, the Xiongnu have always been not good at attacking fortifications, although our Gaoliu garrison is small, it is not impossible to hold the city without losing." ”

More than half a month later, in early August, bad news came from Gaoliu, saying that the Xiongnu relied on the siege weapons and technology brought by the Zang Tu rebels to the grassland, and finally used ladder trucks and crashing vehicles to break through the small city of Gaoliu, slaughtering tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in the city, and looting all the supplies, money and grain. As a result, after hearing the news, Li Zuoche immediately cried loudly, and apologized again and again in the direction of Gao Liu, Xiang Zhuang, Xiang Guan and others also had gloomy faces, and their hearts were like knives.

On the Xiongnu side, after finally solving the problem of tackling the fortifications, the overjoyed Xiongnu army had to advance inch by inch, and resolutely continued to march towards the small city of Pingyi in the south, fortunately, Li Zuoche had already prepared, and sent 6,000 reinforcements to Pingyi first, and joined hands with the Pingyi defenders to defend the city, and finally blocked the attack of the Xiongnu army by themselves, and insisted on the retreat of the Xiongnu who were alone in the depths. But this is enough, tasted the sweetness, and saw that the Han army did not have the courage to fight a decisive battle with the own army, after the king of Zuo Xian led the army to withdraw to the grassland, he immediately sent someone to report the good news to Mao Dun, and by the way, he encouraged Mao Dun to gather the main force in the winter and go south.

Li Zuoche's hand only concealed Zuo Xianwang, in early September, after the situation was reported to Mao Dun, he carefully asked about the history of Gao Yanagi's victory, and the eloquent Mao Dun immediately snorted: "Central Plains dog barbarian, want to come to this set again, don't think that Ben Khan doesn't know, your Li Zuoche barbarian's father used this hand to deceive our main force to go south, so that we suffered a big loss, how could Ben Khan still be fooled?" ”

The heroic Mao Dun will indeed not be easily fooled, but what Mao Dun does not know is that when he was still uncertain about the direction of the advance in winter, the frontier Han army has already begun to counterattack, east to Youbeiping, west to Jiuyuan County, more than a thousand miles of border, the Han army's light cavalry with a team of fifty people wantonly attacked, carrying all kinds of fire-making materials, rushed into the depths of the grassland and set fire, desperately destroying the southern grassland where the Huns could survive during the winter.

For a time, more than 1,000 miles of grassland was full of blazing fire, the wind borrowed the fire, the fire helped the wind, and the raging fire turned countless grasslands that had gradually begun to wither and yellow into ashes, devouring the grass necessary for countless Xiongnu livestock to survive the winter. And because the Han army had never taken this kind of tactical means before, the Xiongnu Zuoxian King was also completely killed by a surprise, and then when the Xiongnu tribe reacted and sent troops to stop the Han army from setting fire, the southern grassland was already full of fire, full of fire and smoke, and everywhere were the beasts, cattle and sheep that were forced to run around by the fire, and the Xiongnu tribe who dragged their families and forced to flee, the Xiongnu people beat their chests and feet, hated the shameless methods of the Han army, and Zuoxian King himself was so angry that his eyes were red. The Han army, who led the army to find the arson everywhere, sent envoys one after another to report to Mao Dun, asking Mao Dun to send troops to retaliate.

Knowing that the arson was progressing smoothly, Xiang Kang immediately went to order the counties of Dahan and ordered the county guards to find an excuse other than to resist the invasion of the Xiongnu to assemble the county soldiers, and complete the assembly, armament and training before November, and prepare for the large-scale attack launched by the Xiongnu in winter. At the same time, in order to prevent Wu Rui from misunderstanding, Xiang Kang also sent someone to Hengshan to explain the reason to Wu Rui, so as not to cause Wu Rui to have a misunderstanding and cause unpredictable consequences - although Wu Rui's strength is weak, if he really rebels when the Xiongnu go south on a large scale, he will definitely give Xiang Kang a headache.

Or after Xiang Kang issued the order, Zhang Liangcai, who had rarely participated in political affairs, cautiously said to Xiang Kang: "Your Majesty, is it a little too careful, the envoy we sent to contact the Xiongnu Right Xianwang has no news, I don't know if it has been successful, if it is lost there, there is no way to further stimulate Mao Dun Shan Yu, we have gathered an army here, I am afraid that it will be empty?" ”

"Gotta gamble." Xiang Kang replied: "Regardless of whether we succeed or not, we must take precautions and prepare in advance, otherwise, if we succeed but do not prepare in advance, we will not only be in a hurry, but we may also suffer a big loss." ”

In fact, when the Han army started to burn the grassland of the Xiongnu Zuoxian King, the Han court secret envoy who went north to contact the Xiongnu Youxian King had already made a breakthrough, and under the strong temptation of various necessities of life, more than a dozen Xiongnu tribes affiliated to the Youxian King reached an agreement with the Han court envoys, agreeing to exchange salt, grain, cloth and bronze with horses, cattle and sheep with Shan Yuting on their backs to the secret Han army, and there was peace with the Han army in Beidi, Longxi and other places, and did not invade each other- Of course, the necessities of life sold to them by the Han army were much cheaper than those promised to be sold to Maudun.

After the Han army deliberately let go of this opening, a large number of daily necessities of course quickly flowed into the grassland that was in a state of extreme hunger and thirst for these things through this opening, and then because the Xiongnu was a semi-militarized society, this situation was quickly discovered by the Xiongnu Youxian King, but in order to satisfy the thirst of his tribe for the necessities of life, as well as coveting the huge profits contained in it, the Youxian King not only did not come forward to stop these behaviors, but also secretly encouraged these Xiongnu tribes to increase trade with the Han army, He even openly mobilized cattle, sheep and horses from other tribes to sell them to the Han army, and resold all kinds of daily necessities exchanged to other Xiongnu tribes to make huge profits from the middle.

Of course, the Xiongnu Youxian King seriously underestimated Mao Dun's ability, and after the Han army secretly negotiated trade with his tribe, this situation was also quickly reported to Shan Yuting by Mao Dun's eyeline planted in the western grasslands. As a result, when he heard the news, Mao Dun couldn't bear it anymore, and roared with a hammer: "The dog barbarian of the Central Plains, while burning the grassland of Ben Khan, while quietly wooing Ben Khan's Right Xian King, is simply too deceitful!" ”

"Great Khan, you have to be careful in this matter." A Xiongnu nobleman next to him said: "The last time the matter of the Yue Clan, King Youxian was already very suspicious, and now the people of the Central Plains are quietly doing business with King Youxian, helping King Youxian to increase his strength, if it goes on like this, I am afraid that King Youxian will be in danger there." ”

"Dahan, why don't you just replace the Right Sage King." The Xiongnu Right Valley Liwang, who had long coveted the throne of the Right Sage King, took the opportunity to say: "Changing someone to be the Right Sage King can not only eliminate the danger, but also strictly restrain the people of the Right Sage King, forcing them to cut off trade with the Central Plains people and start a war against the Central Plains people." ”

Mao Dun glanced at the most qualified King of Youxian Li, and did not say anything, and said after a while: "Don't be in a hurry, for this kind of thing, the removal of King Youxian will not only make his people unhappy, maybe it is also possible to force King Youxian to the side of the Central Plains, so that King Youxian can make a fortune, at least through his side, to solve the problem of our serious shortage of food and salt." ”

"But the Great Khan, if this goes on for a long time, not only will the people of the Right Xian King continue to take refuge in the Central Plains, but the Right Xian King may also get closer and closer to the Central Plains people?" The king of the right valley did not give up, and reminded Mao Dun again.

Mao Dun still didn't answer immediately, and after thinking about it for a long time, Mao Dun suddenly asked again: "On the side of King Zuo Xian, how is the situation now?" ”

"It's terrible to return to the Great Khan." King Zuo Gu Li hurriedly replied: "In the past, most of the grasslands where King Zuo Xian spent the winter were burned, although King Zuo Xian sent troops several times to stop the Central Plains people from setting fires, but the Central Plains people ran every time they encountered our army, and when our army left, they turned around and came back to continue burning the grassland, and now the grassland is windy and strong, as long as the Central Plains people put a fire at will, they can immediately destroy a grassland for us to spend the winter, and we have no way to prevent it at all." In a word, if you don't hurry up and find a way, Zuo Xianwang's side will definitely be difficult this winter. ”

Mao Dun's face was extremely gloomy, and he said after a while: "It seems that there is only one fight with the Central Plains people, and the army of the Right Xian King will also be transferred to fight together, which will not only force him to make a feud with the Central Plains people, but also try his loyalty." ”

"In addition, we can also grab a few cities of the Central Plains, so that we can spend the winter with peace of mind." A Xiongnu nobleman hurriedly added: "In the past, we couldn't take the cities of the Central Plains, but now it's different, with the siege weapons brought to us by the king of Donghulu (Zang Di), not to mention the small cities on the border, we are sure that we can beat the big cities of Jicheng, Mayi and Taiyuan, and take these cities, and we will no longer have to worry about the Central Plains people not selling us grain, salt and cloth next year." ”

"You can also grab countless Central Plains beauties to come back and sleep with us!" Another Xiongnu nobleman rushed to echo it, which immediately caused a lot of lewd laughter, and even made the Xiongnu nobles present speak one after another, trying their best to encourage Maodun to take advantage of the upcoming winter to invade the south.

Only Mao Dun didn't have any smile, although he knew that it was the best policy to kill the Yue Clan first and then go all out to deal with the Han army, but because of the shameless blockade of the Han army, as well as the crazy destruction of the winter grassland of the Xiongnu tribe, in order to solve the livelihood problem of the tribesmen, coupled with the instigation of the nobles and the temptation of the Central Plains materials, as well as to solve the hidden dangers on the side of the Right Xian King through military means, Mao Dun thought about it, but nodded slowly, and said: "Then do it, this winter, go south to the Central Plains!" Grab the border city of the Central Plains people to Ben Khan! ”