The foundation of the Yellow Turbans in Bingzhou is relatively weak, so there are not many people who are willing to surrender. But when the Yellow Turban made the situation clear, Sizhou, Jizhou, Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Yizhou and Nanyang were already under the control of the Yellow Turban, and Ding Yuan had also been surrounded, these people began to waver. Eventually, half of the defenders and 40% of their private forces joined the Yellow Turbans. The rest of the people, according to what was agreed before, raise them first, and then talk about it when they have a place to go.

On the Yanmen side, as usual, after I switched over and led the troops over, I successfully took it. However, in Bingzhou, taking Yanmen is not my end, but a starting point. I was in the imperial court camp with a tooth commander department equivalent to the strength of 27 primitive commanders, and I brought over three You Commanders, which was close to the strength of a partial commander. The purpose of hoarding heavy troops here is to recover the lost territory of the five counties and take back the remaining territory of the state from the barbarians.

With the three commanders who were unwilling to surrender in the defenders who surrendered before, they all entered Yanmen, and the total strength of Yanmen officially reached more than one partial commander. The troops of the three commanders were left to defend the city, while the troops of my three commanders were all marching towards Dingxiang.

In fact, as early as the beginning of the arrangement, I had already sent two Cao Shuai's troops to Shuofang, Wuyuan, Yunzhong, Dingxiang and Shangjun. These forces are more than the two original commanders. Among them, Shangjun was led by Qin Qiong, Wuyuan was led by Wei Yan, Yunzhong was led by Tang Xing, Shuofang was led by Sun Qiu, and Dingxiang troops were led by Feng Yu. Half of the troops assigned to me by the court players were also divided into six parts, and each county was also divided into troops to garrison strategic points. As early as when the Yellow Turban was fighting, the battle was actually in full swing on this side.

Shuofang, Yunzhong, Dingxiang, Wuyuan four counties, now belong to the Xiongnu Shuofang Prefecture. These are also the four most prosperous counties in the entire Xiongnu at present. Because these four counties have ready-made cities established by the Han Dynasty, after being taken by the Xiongnu, they can be used directly. Previously, the commerce, handicrafts, and technology in these cities were also fully accepted by the Xiongnu.

Therefore, in these four counties, the Xiongnu have always stationed heavy troops, which are guarded by King Zuo Xian himself. The strength of the three commanders of the entire Xiongnu, except for the four prefectures of Gobi, Shuobei, Yinshan, and Lingbei, where a total of one staff and commander was stationed, the remaining two staff and command departments, Mobei, where Wangcheng is located, stationed a staff and command department, and one was all in Shuofang.

The four counties of Shuofang are generally characterized by many deserts and grasslands, so they are very suitable for the Hun iron cavalry to fight. Although the troops I brought with me reached a partial commander, because of the lack of military horses, they were basically infantry. Therefore, Qin Qiong, Wei Yan, Tang Xing, Sun Qiu, and Cao Zao, the five leading generals, had reached a consensus before setting off, that is, they would besiege the city as soon as they went up, and never give the Xiongnu iron cavalry a chance to fight in the field. The military supplies were sufficient, the fortifications of the deep ditches and high fortifications were well built, and if the Hun iron cavalry wanted to kill it, it was difficult for the cavalry to restrain the infantry.

The most important thing is that the ones brought over this time are all [Seven Star Soldiers], and the long-range attack power of this class is very strong. Using archers against cavalry without impact can be described as the right medicine.

But the weakness of our army's lack of siege means was also exposed. Although our archers were strong, the Huns were also very good at riding and shooting. The ranged attack power of both sides is actually about the same. Our army just has an advantage in troops. However, the Huns were defending the city, and it was doubtful whether the advantage could form a victory.

In fact, in the middle of this kind of siege warfare, the long-range offensive ability of the defenders will determine the fate of the besieging side. In ancient siege warfare, the strong walls could only prevent the defenders from being attacked. In modern times, with heavy firepower on the city wall, the damage to the attacker is not ordinarily large. If there are no heavy weapons such as cannons, the attacker will not want to attack the opponent's castle except for earthwork. In ancient times, the same was true, as long as there was strong long-range firepower, the defenders were a nightmare for the besiegers.

But this problem is not unsolvable. After all, we also said that there is also the means of earthwork. What is a civil work? I'm sorry, I'm sorry for readers who haven't read the war genre, so I'll explain it to you. The so-called earthwork is actually the following more popular things: digging tunnels, digging tunnels, and building fortifications. Among them, the more useful ones in siege are digging tunnels and digging tunnels.

Tunnel warfare is an invention of the guerrillas? No, when Deng Ai and Jiang Wei fought in the Three Kingdoms era, Jiang Wei used tunnel warfare. And speaking of which, Cao Cao is the ancestor of tunnel warfare, in Cao Cao's hometown, a huge underground fortification was excavated, not only has a complete tunnel system, but also has a variety of auxiliary fortifications in the tunnel. Therefore, in the game of the Three Kingdoms, it is actually very normal to use tunnel warfare and tunnel warfare.

In fact, fortifications can be used not only for defense, but also for offense. During the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao built a high earthen mountain and used a well to shoot arrows at Cao Cao's position. The use of tunnels and earth and mountains can actually achieve the purpose of siege.

Therefore, before the army set out, the armament I equipped the army with included enough earthwork tools. Of course, siege tools such as Jingqi are also indispensable. In addition, there are also ladders and Lu Gonglin's rushing car. There are even catapults. The technology of good ancient armor is not enough, so the real ladder, Linchong car, well caster, and catapult can't be built, but it is still possible to build a few cottage things to suit the situation.

Therefore, under the simultaneous operation of a variety of siege methods, although the four county towns and most of the county towns have not yet been conquered, each county has taken one or two small county towns. This also means that among the five counties, in fact, there is almost one county in the county that I have now acquired.

Among them, the progress of the upper county is particularly fast. Because it was not the Xiongnu who captured Shangjun, but Kuqiang. Kuqiang is a branch of Xiqiang. Originally, it was one with Xiqiang, but later Liangzhou was reoccupied by the imperial court, and Kuqiang was cut off from the road on Xiqiang's side. So Kuqiang had to unite with the Xiongnu and jointly attack the border of the Han Dynasty. The agreement between the two sides was that the upper counties would be returned to Kuqiang, and the other territories would be returned to the Xiongnu. Therefore, Shangjun is almost the only territory in Kuqiang.

Therefore, when Qin Qiong was ordered to attack Kuqiang, the strategy he used was different. The four counties of Shuofang were to expel the Xiongnu, or capture them all, or at least kill them. And Kuqiang here, taking care of reality, must coexist with Kuqiang. So from the very beginning, Qin Qiong announced that as long as Kuqiang was willing to cooperate with the imperial court, he would still manage the territory of Shangjun by himself. Of course, the imperial court had to garrison troops, and the two sides coexisted peacefully.

At the beginning, Kuqiang was unwilling to make peace with Qin Qiong. People have occupied Shangjun for so many years, why should they make peace with you? Besides, Kuqiang also has the support of the Xiongnu. But as Qin Qiong flexed his muscles, and the news that the four counties of Shuofang were also being attacked, Kuqiang was no longer monolithic.

The six counties close to Sizhou and Beidi were originally the birthplaces of the Han Dynasty, close to Yongzhou, and not far from Chang'an. These territories were first cut off by Qin Qiong. As a result, all six southern counties surrendered without a fight. And Qin Qiong also fulfilled his promise, and the six counties still govern Kuqiang by themselves, and they usually only pay a little tax. At the same time, the troops of the six counties were all retained.

There is only one point, Qin Qiong's department lacks military horses, so a military horse of the You Shuai Department was requisitioned in the six southern counties. So under Qin Qiong's command, there was an extra cavalry of the commander's department. It's just that these cavalry can't form combat power for the time being. Because there is no bonus of cavalry, not to mention encountering the Hun iron cavalry, even if it encounters the Kuqiang cavalry, there is no return. Fortunately, the six southern counties also provided Qin Qiong with cavalry instructors by the way, and Qin Qiong himself was also able to train cavalry, so the formation of combat power would not be a problem sooner or later. Of course, this battle cannot be counted on.

After I entered Dingxiang with the main force of the You Shuai Department, I got the battle situation on Qin Qiong's side. So my battle plan has also been slightly adjusted. First switch to the Yellow Turban camp to leave a passage in the territory of the West River, and then switch over and send two troops of Cao Shuai's troops to cross the border from the West River and enter the north of Shangjun. This force will follow the border of Shangjun and go west until the passage between Shangjun and the Xiongnu is cut off.

In fact, Shangjun is only the main part of Kuqiang, and it is also the most prosperous place. In the territory of the Xiongnu, the Xiongnu also left a residence for Kuqiang. This settlement is just between Laoju and Liangzhou. When the northern land belonged to the merger state, the land was even like the mouth of the merger, wrapped in the merger. This time, I am not only ready to take back Shangjun, but also ready to swallow this bitter territory. In this way, the Kuqiang clan will all be annexed by me and become a large rear of mine.

The two Cao Shuai troops who attacked this border line were most threatened by the fact that they were facing a field environment. In the face of cavalry field battles, it is necessary to equip strong defenses. In this regard, I had already equipped these troops when I was in Yanmen. As a perennial place to fight against the Xiongnu, Yanmen itself has a large number of weapons to deal with the Xiongnu. This time, Ding Yuan didn't need to deal with the cavalry in order to attack Huguan, so he went into battle lightly, and he didn't bring any of these equipment, which happened to be cheaper for me.

Among these equipment, there are definitely spears and shields. The height of the shield is just right to protect the infantry as a whole. This was exactly the right medicine for the Huns, who relied on bows and arrows and scimitars to attack. The spear, on the other hand, is both offensive and defensive. Rulin's spear, when it doesn't move, looks like a hedgehog, and when it moves like a chain hammer, it is the nemesis of the cavalry.