In order to speed up the march and rush to Gaonu County to join Guan Yu as soon as possible, Zhou Fei asked to let go of the small alien settlements along the way and go straight to the northwest, as long as he got on the straight, the marching speed would be faster, otherwise it would be very difficult to march in the middle of winter.

The only county seat encountered along the way was Diaoyin County, where all the Qiang people had been evacuated, so Zhou Fei ordered the troops to speed up their march north and go straight to Gaonu.

Gaonu was the political and trading center of the Qiang people in the southern part of Shangjun, located in Yan'an, later generations.

Guan Yu set off early, and Zhou Fei was worried that he was outnumbered and had to rush there as soon as possible.

In the face of strong external military pressure, in the face of life and death, many Qiang tribes quickly abandoned their previous suspicions, united with the outside world, and the tribes quickly withdrew to Gaonu, only by relying on the strength of the people and the strong walls of Gaonu City they could resist the Han army.

In their opinion, the Han army galloped and must not be able to carry siege equipment and a large number of logistical baggage, if they insisted, the Han army would not hold out for too long due to logistical pressure.

Among the Qiang tribes, there were many Han literati who defected, and they were very valued by the Qiang people, and they worked together to give advice to the Qiang people and strengthen the defense capability of Gaonu City.

The most important thing is the material reserves, and only by stockpiling enough supplies can they hold out until the day when the Han army retreats. Not only should the rations of the people be stored, but also the fodder for the animals to eat, so that the animals can live longer, and if necessary, they can slaughter the animals for consumption.

The second is to renovate the city, increase the height and reinforcement, prepare the materials for defending the city, and the old and weak and women in the city step up the production of arrows; Qingzhuang carried a large number of stones, rolling logs and other defense materials to the city.

Then there is to increase the fortifications outside the city, digging several circles of defensive trenches along the Gaonu Castle, which is a very difficult task in the middle of winter, and adding obstacles such as horses under the city.

In the end, there were more than 70,000 people in the city, nearly 20,000 young and strong, and more than 6,000 Han slaves.

Han Chinese slaves were driven by them and forced to participate in heavy manual labor.

The Qiang people were fully prepared to defend the city.

When Zhou Cang led the Wuhuan cavalry to feel the capital city, the people in the city had fled, and they fled very hastily, only taking away cattle and sheep and horses and other livestock and grain and other valuable materials, and did not even have time to transport the forage; The Han slaves were left in the city, not taken away, nor killed, which made Zhou Cang's heart excited; Even if the Qiang people were not beheaded or captured, it was a great achievement to seize this forage and rescue so many slaves.

However, the Wuhuan cavalry was very disappointed, according to the policy announced at the beginning, the rescued Han people and all the materials captured were not considered war exploits, but the responsibility and obligation of the army, and this part of the income was used to support the army and offset the usual expenses of the troops; Only the Qiang who were killed and captured along the way counted their exploits.

Zhou Cang felt that the Qiang people must not have run far, and there was no need to hold on to the county seat of Pingdu, so he ordered more than 1,000 Han slaves who had been rescued before and after to guard Pingdu and watch the Qiang prisoners; He led the Wuhuan cavalry in rapid pursuit to the south.

The next day, they pursued to the tail of the Qiang migration force.

The Qiang people panicked and hurried desperately, and the horses, cattle and sheep and other livestock were constantly discarded to block the advance of the Wuhuan cavalry.

According to the usual practice, these Wuhuan cavalry would definitely stop the pursuit and begin to loot the spoils; What the Qiang people didn't expect was that these Wuhuan cavalry were not moved by these materials at all, and continued to chase frantically after bypassing the obstacles, and in their eyes, the most valuable thing was the head on the top of the Qiang people's heads.

Zhou Cang led the Wuhuan cavalry transferred from Youzhou to follow the large army to collect the spoils, the Wuhuan cavalry did not want these things, but he liked them very much.

The Wuhuan cavalry chased and killed all the way, and the Qiang people who fell behind or died of war horses became the ghosts of the Wuhuan people; He chased the Qiang people to the outskirts of Gaonu City before he stopped the pursuit, began to collect the spoils, and hurried back to make peace with Zhou Cang.

In contrast, the seizure of Zhou Cang was not bad; The most miserable is the Xiongnu Zuo Dadang, when he led 5,000 Hun cavalry to the county seat of Yangzhou slowly, received an empty city, personnel evacuated, cattle, sheep, horses, grain, baggage, money, tents and other materials were all transported away, and the forage that could not be transported was burned; The most valuable things in the entire city are only those houses, Zuo Dadanghu secretly said, fortunately, the Qiang people still have the idea of fighting back, otherwise if these houses are also burned, then they can only suffer in the ice and snow.

Even if he knew that the Qiang people had evacuated, if they chased them urgently, they might be able to gain something, but Zuo Dadanghu received the order to stick to it, he didn't dare to leave Yangzhou City to pursue the fleeing Qiang people, if he violated the military order, there was a mistake, and it would affect the reward of the Han Dynasty to them, then King Zuo Xian had to kill him.

Fortunately, on the way here, they killed and captured some Qiang people, which made them feel a little comforted.

The harvest of nearly 10,000 cavalry led by Guan Yu was not ideal, the arrival of the Han and Xiongnu coalition forces made the local Qiang people and small tribes moved, and they didn't even have the heart to resist, and the hasty evacuation allowed Guan Yu to pick up some loot, but there were not many Qiang people who were beheaded and captured, which was directly related to their slow speed.

Although Guan Yu's speed was slow, but the road was close, Zhou Cang galloped all the way, because it was a detour, so the two troops rushed to the outside of Gaonu City in about the same time.

Looking at the banners outside the city, the Han army was strong, and the Qiang people secretly rejoiced, fortunately the tribes were united, otherwise no tribe would be the opponent of the Han cavalry, and they would definitely be broken by each one, and no Qiang person could escape the pursuit of the Han people.

They were even more glad that there was now a tall city to provide them with cover, and they were even more glad that they had made adequate preparations for defense in advance.

Seeing that the Qiang people had already prepared, Guan Yu did not rush to attack, but set up camp twenty miles east of the city, waiting for the arrival of Zhou Fei and Xu Huang.

In Guan Yu's opinion, he had already gained enough feats this time, and there was no need to continue to take risks; And most of the Qiang people basically entered Gaonu City according to his intentions, so that the Huns and Wuhuan people would not behead or capture too much, and they did not have to pay too many rewards, but they helped him successfully complete the tactical goal.

Zhou Fei and the others galloped all the way, although they took the straight road, due to the long distance, they were still two days later than Guan Yu.

At this time, Guan Yu and the others were already recuperating and waiting for the siege, while Zhou Fei was not in a hurry, as long as the two armies met safely, he would have no worries.

After understanding the local situation, Zhou Fei ordered the army to set up camp and rest for two days, but fortunately, Guan Yu had ordered the army to prepare in advance, and it was much more convenient to camp now.

Subsequently, Zhou Fei, Xu Huang, Song Xian, Guan Yu and others inspected the camp's defenses; Now Zhou Fei is cautious, for fear of being suddenly attacked by the Qiang people. Guan Yu is also a veteran, he has learned a lot from Gao Shun and others in the past two years, and after the arrival of Cheng Li and Tian Feng, they have strengthened the management of the troops, especially for camping, and formulated strict norms.

Zhou Fei was very satisfied with the location and defense of the camp.

The next day, Zhou Fei and others went around Gaonu County for a week to check the defense of Gaonu City.

Zhou Fei said: "The chief official has done a good job, and it is a great achievement to be able to force the Qiang people into high slaves." ”

Xu Huang felt a lot of pressure to siege the city, and said: "Junhou, it seems that there are masters in Gaonu City!" ”