After the pass is the desert, that is the settlement of the nomads, the so-called desert is lonely, although there is often wind and sand in the desert, but there is rarely the wind blowing under the scorching red sun in the daytime. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

And although there are grasslands and lakes in the desert, there are more yellow sands, and in the hot weather and lack of water sources, drinking water for nearly 100,000 people and thousands of horses under Cao Zhang's command has become a problem.

Although Cao Chang ordered Wang Ling to store a large amount of drinking water before the departure, it still could not effectively solve this problem, which undoubtedly slowed down the march of Cao Zhang's army a lot, and on the third day of Fanzhi Pass, Cao Zhang stationed himself by a lake and ordered the three armies to rest and recuperate.

At this time, the outside of the pass is already the world of nomads, there will be people living in the place where there is a lake, there are hundreds of people living next to the lake, they belong to a tribe of Xian Lingqiang, as the closest to Fanzhi Pass a Qiang tribe, they naturally know that Xian Lingqiang has formed an alliance with the Han Dynasty, together with Tuoba Xianbei as an enemy, so the leader of the Qiang tribe, Shu Lubian, expressed due enthusiasm for Cao Zhang's arrival, and specially sent a roast whole sheep to Cao Zhang.

And Cao Zhang took the opportunity to leave Shulubian in his big tent to ask about some situations outside the pass, only to hear Cao Zhang ask: "Patriarch Shulubian, may I ask where your chieftain's army is now?" ”

Shulu replied: "The chief of our clan is in Baitu County, in the upper reaches of the Balwei River, three hundred miles to the north. ”

Cao Zhang's family history, the Guanwai county is also understood, this Baitu County was built in the Han Dynasty Yuanshuo period (AD 127), but under the impact of peasant uprisings and civil strife, the Eastern Han Dynasty court has been unable to control these Guanwai counties, so they have become the Hu people's settlement, I heard that the first Lingqiang army in Baitu County Cao Zhang nodded and asked: "Where is the Tuoba Xianbei army?" ”

Shulubian replied, "I am confronting my chief in the lower reaches of the Balwei River. ”

Cao Zhang continued: "Before our army arrived, were there other troops passing through here? ”

Shulubian replied: "There are two armies from Hu and Jinchengyi from Hu passing here, and they are now rushing to Baitu County to join the chief. ”

Cao Zhangxin said that Jing and Li Wenhou were not ambiguous, and they did not delay in sending troops at all, and then Cao Zhangxiao asked: "Patriarch, who do you say has a better chance of winning between our four-way army and Tuoba Xianbei?" ”

Shulu shook his head and said, "This is a war with no winners. ”

Cao Zhang said strangely when he heard this: "How do you say this? ”

Shulu said: "My lord, Qiyin County is the county seat established by the Han Dynasty in order to curb the development of the Xiongnu, although it is not a solid city, but it is better to be unobstructed on all sides, and you can sneak into the desert if you escape from any county gate, Xianbei people can garrison there, and naturally plan to concentrate elite forces to break through as long as they find that it is not our opponent, because the other party is in the city, we are outside the city, we don't know which direction they are breaking through, and we can't arrange elite troops to defend, the final result is to break through for them, Return to the desert to recuperate. ”

As soon as Cao Zhang heard it, he knew that what Shulu was saying was the truth, the Xianbei tribe was innumerable in the desert, living in water and grass, it can be said that there was no fixed place to live, if they fled back to the desert, it would be useless to pursue them, because they were familiar with the terrain and could migrate at will, these are the reasons why the Chinese farming society in the past dynasties could not defeat the nomads, because their activity and vitality were very tenacious, and the nomads could only be curbed and driven out, and even integrated, but they could not be completely eliminated.

In the Han Dynasty, there were the Xiongnu, the Jin Dynasty had Wuhu Chaohua, the Tang Dynasty had tile thorns, the Song Dynasty had Liao, Jin, Western Xia, Mongolia, and the Ming Dynasty had Mongolian remnants.

Now Cao Zhang wants to beat Tuoba Xianbei to a slump, but the Qiang people who were born outside the Guan, Shulubian, gave Cao Zhang a head start, this is a war without a winner, this sentence just expresses the thousand-year-old struggle between the farming peoples and the nomads in the land of China.

After chatting with Shu Lubian for a while, Cao Zhangbian asked him to leave, called Gongsun Xu and Zhao Yun, two generals who had experience fighting with the Hu people, and told them what situation they were facing, and asked him what good plan they had.

Gongsun Zhan, the father of Gongsun Xu, can be regarded as invincible in the war against the Hu people, and naturally has a set of methods to deal with the Hu people, only to hear him say: "My lord, the Hu people rely on the method of war to raise war, and the strong men rob the people of our dynasty, and the women and children stay at home to run the family, so as to make a living and multiply. ”

Cao Zhang asked, "Where is the opportunity?" ”

Gongsun continued: "On weekdays, the Hu people have no fixed place to live and migrate with the water source, but now most of the horses of the Xianbei people are in the Yin County, and the mobility of their tribe will be greatly reduced, as long as we send light horses to their tribe to burn and loot, so that a desperate plan, even if this group of Xianbei people escapes, just rebuilding their homes and multiplying is enough for them to do, if they are angry and want to take revenge, in the face of Xian Lingqiang and the two roads of righteousness from Hu and my army, it is even more to hit the stone with an egg, no matter what, The Xianbei people will not be able to recover for at least a few decades. ”

Cao Zhang listened to Gongsun Xu's words and naturally remembered the words of Liu Bao, the Zuoxian King of the Southern Xiongnu: For the Hu people, the most precious thing is nothing more than cattle and sheep and children, cattle and sheep are food, and children are the future.

Fortunately, there are now exactly two such generals under Cao Zhang's command, so Cao Zhang said: "In this case, Zilong, Bokang, you two will each take your cavalry to bypass the Balwei River to fight the Xianbei tribe, this time you are alone, you must do what you can, you must not be greedy for merit, you can defeat as many tribes as you want, and you don't need to risk yourself." ”

Gongsun Xu and Zhao Yun agreed: "No! ”

Cao Zhang continued: "I will let Xian Lingqiang and Bian Jing and Li Wenhou cooperate with me to confuse the enemy, and try to buy you as much time as possible, as for water and food, you can go to Yanyun to get it." ”

Gongsun continued and Zhao Yun thanked them and left. (To be continued.) (To be continued.) )