Xiliang Baohan City is actually just a small town.

In ancient times, the Qiang people lived in the place, and later Qin extinguished it, and placed it in Paohan County, which has been used to this day.

In the town of Baohan, the Han and foreign fusions once reached a rather prosperous Cheng dù. In particular, Zhang Qian of the Western Han Dynasty and Ban Ban of the Eastern Han Dynasty opened up the Silk Road period with Chang'an (now Xi'an) and Luoyang as the www.biquge.info of Biquge, passing through Gansu and Xinjiang to Central Asia and West Asia. Baohan City, which was a necessary place to pass through at that time, was a post station in the territory.

In the past, when caravans were going to Central Asia and West Asia, they arrived here from Longxi, just about 200 miles, just enough to spend the night here, and to purchase materials for tomorrow's journey, and make the final preparations for the long journey. In addition, when relatives see off the caravans, they are also sent here, and they are separated here.

Therefore, after hundreds of years of development, Baohan City once developed into a county town with 200,000 or 300,000 people. It's a pity that in the past hundred years, all kinds of natural and man-made disasters, Baohan City has been completely dilapidated and declined.

The people of the city either died of plagues, wars, or moved away. At present, there are only tens of thousands of people in the entire Baohan County.

After Ma Chao led the army to recover Baohan City, Jia Xu, Li Ru and others immediately sent people to set up the official government of the New Han Dynasty, and various policies to govern the people were promulgated and implemented, which has slowly restored the dilapidated Baohan City. In particular, Ma Chao personally led the army as a laborer for the originally dilapidated and collapsed county city wall, and did not requisition even a man from the people of Baohan, after repairing the city wall and letting people see the new city wall. The people of Baohan City finally understood. In the New Han Dynasty, the New Han Army was indeed different from the army of those ordinary power princes in Xiliang. After seeing that the government issued a tax exemption for one and a half years. And, within half a year. The registration of the Tongguò government confirmed that it was the time when the people of Baohan City, who were struggling to survive, could receive money and food from the government. The people of Baohan City are completely at home, whether they are from other races or Han people living in Baohan, they are all completely at home to the New Han Dynasty.

In a short period of time, the people of Baohan City burst out with an incomparable enthusiasm for labor, and. Many people want to send their young children to join the army, hoping to become a member of the New Han Army, hoping to work with the New Han Army to protect their Baohan City from being attacked and invaded by other forces.

This phenomenon was when the New Han army withdrew from Jincheng to Baohan and built a defensive line, when the people of Baohan heard that the princes of Xiliang and the alien races of Xiliang jointly attacked the army. The people of Huhan City showed special enthusiasm. He didn't flee because he was afraid to know that a powerful enemy was coming.

Actually, in the city of Baohan, the army of the New Han Army. There are many more people than the people of Baohan City, and tens of thousands of people live in this small town with more than 300,000 military horses. Actually, it's really not very remarkable.

However, it is precisely because they have already returned to the New Han Dynasty. has thoroughly recognized the official regime of the New Han Dynasty, so. They spontaneously made psychological preparations for vowing to live and die with Baohan City and the New Han Army. Therefore, the government, which originally did not plan to requisition the people of Baohancheng to help, could not resist the enthusiasm of the people of Baohancheng, so they had to organize and let them help do something that they could do to help get the New Han Army.

For example, in peacetime, they make fires to make food, wash, sew and sew clothes for the soldiers of the New Han Army, etc., cut firewood for the barracks of the New Han Army, etc., feed war horses for the New Han Army, and so on.

Well, through the exchange between the military and the people, it was soon achieved that the military and the people were like a family.

If an army can be like a family with the people, then this army will be like a fish in water, like a tiger with wings, and it will be extremely vigorous. Liu Yi is a person of the future, and through the experience of the Taizu army of later generations, Liu Yi has always been committed to building his own army, so that his army can be truly popular with the people in nature. Only in this way can we always be invincible.

From Longxi to Baohan Town, about 200 miles, along the way, there are some loess sand dunes, occasionally some woods and meadows, but now, the leaves of the woods have already fallen, and they have become some dead trees with dry branches, and all the places are dilapidated dry grass and fallen leaves. In this area, there are no steep mountains, all the way to the unimpeded, but to the southwest, is a high mountain platform, stretching along the road to the west, hundreds of miles long.

When Ma Chao attacked Baohan City, Jia Xu came to inspect these terrains, and he believed that compared to Longxi, Baohan City was the most important acropolis in the west of Longxi. If Baohan City is lost, then the army of the Xiliang princes can directly attack Longxi City. In this way, the efforts of the New Han Army in Xiliang in recent years will be in vain. Therefore, it is necessary to defend the city of Baohan.

Of course, now the new Han army in Baohan City is no longer thinking about holding Baohan City, but thinking about how to defeat the coalition army of the Xiliang princes in one fell swoop, no, not thinking, but having the confidence to completely solve the Xiliang princes.

Jia Xu, Ma Teng, Ma Chao and other generals received good news.

The kings of the Di and Qiang tribes, Darijitai and Cherifeng respectively sent a number of tribal generals such as King Midang and Cheriji to come, and they came as ordinary refugees, probably to hide the eyes and ears sent by the princes of Xiliang.

It turned out that they consulted with the people of the clan through guò and finally decided to submit to the new Han dynasty. The foreign generals such as King Midang and Cheriji came to establish the relationship between their Di and Qiang tribes and the New Han Dynasty and sign an agreement. Among them, Cheriji is the son of Cherifeng and the future heir of the Qiang king.

Sending them, first, is to show the determination of the Di, Qiang and other tribes to submit to the New Han Dynasty, in fact, it is also equivalent to sending protons to the New Han Dynasty, these foreign leaders and generals, will not leave immediately, will not see the opinions of the New Han Dynasty until the final defeat of the Xiliang princes, they will return to their tribe.

The reason why the tribes such as Di and Qiang sent important people around them so simply was because the coalition army of the Xiliang princes had already decided the day to attack Baohan, and the time was pressing. They didn't have time to negotiate slowly, so. They directly sent the king of Midang, Cherrigi and others to express their attitude to the new Han Dynasty.

Of course. The agreement that was actually signed had to be signed with the kings of Di and Qiang, and they demanded that Jia Xu secretly go to their tribal army. One is to sign an agreement with their king, and the other is to let Jia Xu coordinate their alien army from it to see how the next battle will be fought.

Jia Xu did not hesitate, handed over the affairs of Baohan to Ma Teng, Ma Chao, Li Ru, Hao Zhao and others, he only brought a small team of personal soldiers, and quietly rushed to the foreign army.

The location of Baohan City. To the southeast, of course, is Longxi City. About 150 miles to the east of the north is Jincheng, which is the place where the Xiliang coalition army assembled. In addition, about 50 miles from Baohan City to the north, is the Yellow River, this section of the Yellow River, but it is a natural river and lake section (should be the Liujiaxia Reservoir in later generations), its lake surface is more than 10 miles wide, up to dozens of miles. This section of rivers and lakes. It has become a natural barrier to the north of Baohan City. The allied forces of the Western Liang princes in Jincheng could only attack from the northeast. In addition, the armies of the Di and Qiang tribes gathered in the southeast of Longyou. It was assembled on the north bank of the Yellow River from the west, but it was not too far from Baohan City. Crossing the Yellow River to the south, it is only about a hundred miles away.

And march from Jincheng to Baohan. The road is basically an undulating mountainous area, which is not very conducive to the march of large armies. Only within a few tens of miles of Baohan City are some slightly gentle hilly areas. From the assembly place of the Di and Qiang tribes to Baohan City, it will be much faster, and under the Yellow River, there is a grassland of Pingchuan. To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that the Di and Qiang people had been persuaded to submit to the New Han Dynasty, then the hundreds of thousands of troops of Di and Qiang would still pose a great threat to the New Han army in Baohan City.

You must know that Baohan City is not a county town built on a mountain, but on a plain. With the enemy's strength far outnumbering their own, the New Han Army could only defend against the newly built defensive line around Baohan City, and it was unlikely that the army would fight a head-on battle with their army of hundreds of thousands or millions. In this way, with the alien armies of the Di and Qiang tribes, as well as the armies of the Xiliang princes, it is completely possible to surround Baohan City, and then, in addition, there will be spare strength to march directly to Longxi City in the rear. As a result, the New Han Army was completely trapped in a passive situation. Of course, it doesn't matter if you are passive, the biggest problem is that the main army of the New Han Army is in Baohan, so the town forces in the rear will be empty, once the military horses of the Xiliang princes' coalition army break through the towns in the rear, including Longxi City, then the blow to the New Han Dynasty is unspeakable, and the losses will be incalculable and unbearable.

If they could not persuade the foreign tribes such as Di and Qiang to submit to the New Han Dynasty, it would be a different situation. But now...... The generals of the New Han Army are full of expectations for the upcoming big battle, and everyone is gearing up.

On this day, at noon, the sky was overcast.

In the early winter season after entering winter, the weather is mostly like this, the underground north wind is howling, the sky is full of dark clouds, and the smell of desolation seems to be brewing the first snow of early winter.

On the vast wasteland, countless stumps and leaves are swept by the wind.

Ma Chao, Yan Liang, Wen Chou, as well as Hua Xiong, Xu Rong and other generals who rushed over, stood together in the north of the east of Baohan City, on a defensive line built by a small mountain about three miles away from the city wall, looking at the north from afar.

To the north, from time to time, a troop of ten or five cavalry scouts would gallop back from a distance, raising dust along the way.

In addition to the scouts of the New Han Army, at some moments, there will also be groups of homeless people, who will come with their families and panicked.

According to the report of the scouts on the front line, the allied forces of the Xiliang princes on the Jincheng side had already driven to Baohan City at noon yesterday. This one hundred and fifty miles is not too far, and under the condition that most of them are cavalry, if they march in a hurry, they can be killed under the city of Baohan. But now the night had passed, and it was noon again, and the enemy had not yet arrived. This made Ma Chao, Yan Liang and other generals feel a little surprised.

Since yesterday afternoon, many people have been flowing into the city from the north. When they heard that the Jincheng army was coming south, they were all worried that they would be sacked by the Jincheng army, so they hurriedly fled from their place of residence and threw themselves into Baohan City. This morning, some of the displaced people received by Baohan City, they were attacked by the Jincheng army, and they suffered heavy losses, and they were able to escape with their lives. It's their fate.

According to them, the Golden City Army. It was not directly driven to Baohan City, but swept all the way. His horses scattered, sweeping all the hundreds of miles they had passed.

Sure enough, a thief is a thief, and they can never change their style. Perhaps, they already thought that this battle would be won, so they marched all the way and fished out some pieces by the way.

However, almost the entire coalition of the Western Liang princes was assembled. Its strength really can't be underestimated. The strength of their coalition army alone far exceeded the army of the New Han Army in Baohan City. If you add the armies of foreign tribes such as Di and Qiang, it seems that there is really no reason to win this battle, so it is no wonder that the alliance of the Xiliang princes on the Jincheng side is so slow to pounce.

According to the information sent back by the scouts and the spies who entered Jincheng, Ma Chao already knew the specific strength of the Jincheng coalition army.

Among them, the one with the most troops should be Han Sui, his military horse, who is against the Ma Teng brothers. That's 150,000 people. Ma Teng was not in Xiliang at the beginning, Ma Chao was still young after all, and he was not very good at management, so. was wooed by Han Sui many people. When he turned against Ma Teng, his military horses numbered nearly 100,000 horses, and now they have been developed. There were about 150,000 horses.

For Han Sui, what he hopes for the most. It is to recapture Longxi City, therefore. He used all his forces, and almost all the military horses that could be dispatched were dispatched. But among the 150,000 horses, there are only 50,000 cavalry, that is, only these 50,000 elite soldiers, and the rest are infantry troops with relatively weak combat strength, and there are more old and weak remnants.

followed, it was Guo Yan's military horse, after Li Dao took refuge in him, his strength increased, but it was also limited, after all, Li Dao had been disabled by the Xinhan Army in Tianshui, and there were not many military horses that escaped with him. Therefore, this time, he dispatched 100,000 military horses, including 50,000 cavalry. He mainly has more help from Li Dao, and in terms of the strength of the generals, he is considered to be a stronger military horse on his way.

Niu Fu of Wuwei also dispatched 100,000 military horses, including 30,000 cavalry.

Yang Fu's army is 50,000.

There are also Jiang Xu, Liang Kuan, Zhao Qu, etc., a number of large and small forces in Xiliang. Big forces, tens of thousands, small forces, more than 10,000 or thousands of people. and together an army of about 500,000 men.

In addition, there are about 100,000 and 200,000 old and weak logistics convoys.

After about two months of preparation, the princes of Xiliang actually gathered nearly a million people in Jincheng.

However, according to the secret report sent back from Jincheng, the coalition army of the princes of Jincheng seems to be overwhelming, but in fact, the real fighting force is the cavalry army of about 200,000, and the rest of the infantry army is not enough to worry about. The elite cavalry in this, the strongest, should be the military horses of Dong Zhuo's old department, that is, the cavalry in Guo Yan and Niu Auxiliary Army. But so what? When Dong Zhuo was alive, the Xinhan army could defeat Dong Zhuo's Xiliang Iron Cavalry head-on, so why are they afraid of their remnants now?

In addition, although the princes of Xiliang formed an alliance and formed an alliance, they were at odds with each other. Han Sui had the largest number of troops on his own, and faintly regarded himself as the king of Xiliang, but Guo Yan and Niu Wei naturally refused to accept it. Moreover, Guo Yan and Niu Fu are not on the right path. Anyway, the relationship between these Xiliang princes is complicated and unclear. For the time being, one is Liu Bei, who is pulling the strings, and then, there is Zhong Xuan sent by Cao Cao to maintain the relationship between all parties. Otherwise, this alliance would not have been completed smoothly, let alone truly launched an attack on the New Han Army.

Knowing the situation of the alliance of the Xiliang princes, Ma Chao and other generals were even more sure.

Now, Ma Chao has nearly 100,000 cavalry troops, plus the cavalry of Yan Liang, Wen Chou, Hua Xiong, and Xu Rong, the strength of the cavalry is not smaller than the coalition army of the Xiliang princes, and in terms of combat effectiveness, it is definitely stronger than the coalition army of the Xiliang princes. It can be said that even if it is a head-to-head battle, Ma Chao and other generals are sure to win the battle.

Especially now, the Xiliang alien race has submitted to the New Han Dynasty, so that the New Han Army has no worries at all. In this way, the current generals of the New Han Army, everyone is full of expectations for this battle.

The Xiliang coalition army has not arrived for a long time, so that everyone is a little anxious to wait, knowing this, they might as well lead the army to stop and kill on the way for a while, and ruin the majesty of the Xiliang princes' coalition army.

However, when Jia Xu left Baohan to agree with the kings of the Di and Qiang tribes on their return to the New Han Dynasty, he had already given a special explanation to Ma Teng and Ma Chao, telling them not to stop and kill the allied army of the Xiliang princes who came from Jincheng. Let them reach the plain under the city of Baohan, so that they can be better served.

Well, Jia Junshi's vision has also become higher and higher as the New Han Dynasty has become stronger and stronger. Before, who dared to say that the army of hundreds of thousands was wiped out? But now, Jia Xu's purpose is very clear, that is, to completely eliminate this coalition army of Xiliang princes in one go, and lay a good foundation for the complete recovery of Xiliang.

Of course, the reason why the allied forces of the Xiliang princes were killed under the city of Baohan was because the Xiliang aliens had submitted to the relationship of the New Han Dynasty, if not, then the plan would have been different.

It was the original plan to dispatch the cavalry army of the New Han Army to attack the allied army of the Western Liang princes from Jincheng halfway. According to the original plan, looking at the current situation of the alliance of the Xiliang princes, it is estimated that it can be effective in one blow. Just look at them marching all the way and daring to divide their troops to plunder, and they are doomed to defeat. (To be continued......)