The 50,000 Qiang cavalry that brazenly invaded eastward a few months ago flaunted their might outside the border fortress of the Han Beidi County, but they could not attack it for a long time. As the commander, the patriarch of the Beihe tribe, Vasuge, was so anxious that he ordered to intensify the siege of the city.

However, the nearly 30,000 cavalry from the Xiqiang tribes did not act on orders, and the nobles of the various tribes, who had no intention of fighting hard, took their own cavalry and scattered to the vast grasslands outside the border fortress of several counties in the northwest of the Han people, and plundered the Han villages that were originally attached to the Xiongnu, and even secretly attacked and killed many Xiongnu nomadic tribes who had not had time to retreat to Heshuo.

As a result, the only thing that Vasuge, who was eager to avenge for her daughter, could rely on was more than 20,000 elite horsemen from the Beihe tribe, frantically attacking the Han army's fortress regardless of casualties.

The Han army, however, seemed to be in good shape, they had been resisting the fierce Xiongnu iron cavalry for many years, and now they could not feel too much pressure in the face of the Qiang's rudimentary siege equipment and the cavalry and archery horses far inferior to the Huns. In particular, the continuous supply of reinforcements from the counties in the rear made the Han army's defensive position as stable as Mount Tai, and even the city gate was not sealed with sand and gravel as usual.

Wang Kun, the Taishou of Beidi County, also deliberately sent a lot of war horses from Ma Yuan to the Governor of Beidi, handed them over to the thief Cao Xu Ze, and distributed them to the hands of the thief Cao, and then mixed the skilled guards and county soldiers with bows and horses, and it was possible to temporarily put together more than 3,000 horsemen, and practice the battle formation outside the camp behind the border fortress at night to run in the tacit understanding between each other.

Facing the doubts of his subordinates, Wang Kun smiled and said, "Are you worried that Your Majesty will hold your official accountable for disrespecting military orders and trying to fight fiercely with the Qiang people?" ”

The officials of Beidi County all nodded and persuaded bitterly: "Even if Taishou is sincere in his meritorious service, he should not privately train cavalry with the intention of going to war. Our Han army has strict discipline, and it is a taboo to send troops in vain. Even if you can break the Qiang people, I'm afraid that there will be no success. ”

Without waiting for Wang Kun to answer, a weak-crowned young man behind him slowly stepped forward, holding a secret box, and said loudly: "You don't need to worry, Your Majesty has already issued a secret decree, ordering Wang Taishou to act cheaply, wait for the opportunity to pursue the Qiang people, and clear the remnants of the northwest grassland." ”

The generals were stunned when they heard this, and the Governor of the North Land asked with a confused face: "Pursuing the Qiang people?" Now the Qiang people are menacing, desperately attacking the city, it is easy for us to hold the border fortress, but the enemy is not caught, how to pursue? ”

The weak-crowned young man did not answer, and his questioning was unheard, and the atmosphere was a little embarrassing for a while.

However, Wang Kunqing coughed a few times and said slowly: "Your Majesty's secret decree has already been verified by the official, but it is inconvenient to announce it widely. You only need to prepare for the pursuit in addition to preparing for defense, and how much military merit you can win at that time depends on your respective means. ”

The generals' eyes lit up, many of them were reinforcements from other counties, but they were only temporarily under the jurisdiction of Wang Kun, if they only assisted in defending the city, they could not gain much military merit. Since His Majesty's secret decree said that he would pursue the Qiang people, he must have something to rely on, beating the water dog is an easy job that everyone is willing to do, and if he does it well, he can be promoted to the rank of knight, why not?

At that moment, the generals no longer questioned it and returned to the camp to prepare the soldiers. Even if it is a foot battalion, it must be well prepared, although it is impossible to run the four-legged cavalry camp, it is better to clear out some remnants, and there are still remnants of the Huns scattered everywhere on the grassland outside the Saiwai, and there are some old and weak women and children, whether they are beheaded or captured, as long as they are barbarians, they are all military merits.

The grasslands of midsummer are stunningly beautiful, with endless views under the unfathomable blue sky, the green grass grows wildly, giving off an intoxicating fragrance, and the blooming flowers swaying in the poetic clouds and skylight.

However, the warriors of the Beihe tribe did not have time to restrain their horses and enjoy the boundless beauty, and the towering fortress in the distance was like a huge evil beast, which had devoured the lives of thousands of warriors. Looking at the dense black military flags at the head of the city, many warriors were afraid, and the mood of dissatisfaction and cowardice spread rapidly in the Xiqiang camp.

In the Qiang tent, Vasuge is now full of remorse, and his eyes are becoming more and more unkind when he looks at Zang Suer. It was this wife and nephew who suddenly brought the news that Yang Bazi had committed suicide by humiliation, and tried his best to pry Gesang and instigated himself, who was blinded by hatred, to invade the east and avenge his daughter.

As early as when Zang Suer strangely persuaded the Han army to guard the Great Wall Pass and let the Xiqiang army enter the pass, Vasuge had doubts. Now that he is about to hate the Northland Frontier and has no choice but to withdraw his troops, he naturally plans to use him as a scapegoat and put on the hat of a Han annihilator, so as to avoid the defeat causing his prestige to plummet.

Zang Suer seemed to feel the malice in Vasu's eyes, and his heart was mixed. For the Han people who killed the entire blue wolf tribe, the hatred in his heart was naturally unforgettable, and he even hated his uncle Vashuge who insisted on not lending troops to him to recover his blood debt.

After meeting the Han people in Chang'an City, Zang Suer quietly sneaked into the Han people's farm and asked the Han for a string of beads as a token, but on the grounds that she was unable to save her from the Han land, he left the farm and returned to Xiqiang alone. After that, he made up a whole set of lies, deceived his aunt Gesang's trust, and provoked the hatred of the Beihe tribe against the Han people. When the Xiongnu Youxian King sent an envoy to urgently order the Xiqiang tribes to raid the Han Kingdom, where all the elites went north, Zang Suer felt that the opportunity could not be lost, and lobbied the Xiqiang tribes everywhere, and finally contributed to the eastward invasion with his uncle Wa Suge as the main commander.

At the beginning of the war, it was indeed smooth. Especially when passing through the Great Wall Pass controlled by the Han people, Zang Suer went to the enemy camp alone, relying on the handle in his hand, to coerce the Han defenders to withdraw from the defenders and let Qiang ride into the pass. Zang Suer deeply knew that if the handle in his hand was spread, several wealthy families in the northwest counties of the Han Kingdom would be exterminated by the emperor of the Han State, but all the Han generals who were born in these families were naturally frightened, but they did not dare to hurt him half a point, and they were afraid that he still had other backers.

However, after entering the pass, the menacing 50,000 Qiang cavalry encountered stubborn resistance in the border fortress of the Han people, and the strong attack was fruitless for more than a month. Nearly 30,000 cavalry of the Xiqiang tribe had no intention of fighting hard at all, but plundered everywhere, leaving only more than 20,000 cavalry of the Beihe tribe to continue to attack the city, and naturally achieved nothing. Now there is a dilemma, and the momentum of deep mud feet.

"Zang Suer, when ** went to the Great Wall Pass to persuade the Han army to defend the generals, why don't you try it now? Aren't you afraid that the Han people will take your life? Inside the big tent, a cavalryman of the Beihe tribe said with a sneering face.

The rest of the Beihe generals had long been dissatisfied with the outsiders of this blue wolf tribe, thinking that it was all the incident that he provoked, and they all echoed it, and the big tent became noisy.

Vasuge's eyes lit up, but he didn't squeak, but stared at Zang Suer's face, waiting for his response.

Seeing this, Zang Suer's heart was full of bitterness, but he didn't pay attention to the shouting cavalry commander, but bowed to Vasuge with a bitter face and said, "Uncle, it's not that my nephew is greedy for life and afraid of death. It's just that this time is different, if the guards here really withdraw their troops and let us wave into the fortress, they will definitely be exterminated by the emperor of the Han Dynasty, and it will be impossible to be coerced by his nephew. ”

Wa Suge raised his eyebrows and said coldly: "The guards of the Great Wall Pass, let my Xiqiang tribes enter the customs, didn't he also commit a capital crime, but why did he dare to do what he said?" If you really have the handle of the Han people in your hands, you might as well talk about it in detail, so that I can refer to it in detail. ”

Zang Suer was shocked when he heard this, and countless thoughts quickly flashed in his mind. He knew that this matter was his greatest dependence, and if it was revealed, he would have no value to Vasuckog, and would only become an outcast at will. He turned pale several times, and finally gritted his teeth and said quietly: "I still hope that my uncle will forgive my sins, and my nephew will never reveal half a point." ”

Vasuge's face became more and more gloomy, and his big rough hand grasped the scabbard on his waist tightly, as if he was about to draw the knife and hurt someone in the next moment. And the generals in the tent were even more stunned, and they all loudly scolded Zang Suer for being rude, if it weren't for the fact that he was Vasuge's wife and nephew, I am afraid that he would have already chopped him into meat sauce with a knife.

Seeing this situation, Zang Suer's originally anxious heart calmed down a little, full of open thoughts, and stiffened his neck and said loudly: "Although my nephew can't convince the guards here, if the battle situation is unfavorable and the army retreats westward, he can still go to the Great Wall Pass again to say something!" ”

A cold glint flashed in Vasuge's eyes, but he had to accept his threat, seeing that the warriors under his command had lost their spirit, and withdrawing troops was the only choice, and he would return to Xiqiang in the future, so as to avoid passing through the Great Wall Pass. At that time, if there is no dredging of Zang Suer, I am afraid that these tens of thousands of Qiang riders will have to be trapped alive in the Great Wall Pass. He tried his best to suppress the killing intent in his heart, waved his hand to stop the angry generals, let them all return to their headquarters, and urged his warriors to continue to attack the Han people.

After a while, only Vashuge and Zang Suer were left in the big tent, staring at each other for a long time and were speechless. Zang Suer is now alone, and he has nothing to worry about, so he is naturally not afraid of Vasug's sharp eyes, and looks at him coldly. However, Vasuge is the entire Beihe tribe, and there are many beautiful concubines and countless treasures in the clan, and they have long since lost the vigor of galloping on the grassland.

The so-called barefoot is not afraid of wearing shoes, after a long time, Vasuge finally lost the battle, his eyes showed exhaustion and incredible weakness, patted Zang Suer's shoulder, and sighed: "Gesang has always regarded you as his own, why is this so?" ”

Zang Suer's straight waist trembled slightly, his aunt was a Han female slave, he was not favored by the wolf king Gash when he was a child, and he was often abused by his brother and even his clansmen. Only his aunt Gesang has always loved him, and now that the blue wolf tribe has been wiped out, Gesang is the only bond in his heart.

Vashuge's words are actually a faint threat to Zang Suer to think more about Gesang's situation in the future. After all, for Vashuge, Gesang, who is old and her beauty is gradually fading, is at most a beloved woman.

Zang Suer's heart was full of hatred, his chest and abdomen continued to rise and fall, but in the end, he was ruthless, bowed expressionlessly, and said quietly: "If my uncle has no other instructions, my nephew will retire first." ”

Vashuge was silent, turned slowly, and waved his hand to signal that he could leave. Listening to the felt curtain lifted behind him and the footsteps of Zang Suer gradually moving away, Vasu's eyes were full of killing intent, and he secretly made a vow that when he came to withdraw his troops and leave the customs, he would use Zang Suer's head to pay tribute to the dead warriors! (To be continued.) )