Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 754 Where is Hu Ting?

Huo Jun enjoyed a few days of happiness at home, but eventually he had to leave his happy place as the date of departure was approaching.

On October 1st, Liu Chan issued an edict to attack the Xianbei, and appointed Huo Jun as the Grand Marshal, leading an army of 130,000, which was divided into three routes.

The western route was led by Liangzhou Governor Wang Ping as the main general, Lingwu Prefect Deng Zhi as the deputy general. They led 25,000 troops out of Hexi to support the main army.

The central army was led by General Lu Xun, who was in charge of the Han and Hu generals Shi Ran, Liao Hua, Hu Bo and Ju Zizhi. They led 35,000 soldiers out of Xihe and went straight to Henan.

The Eastern Army was led by Huo Jun himself with a force of 70,000 men, and was headed by Pang Tong, Jiang Ji, Wei Yan, Huo Fan and other generals. They marched out of Yanmen Pass and headed straight for the Xianbei royal court.

On the day of the expedition, Liu Chan and Zhuge Liang led their ministers, both civil and military officials, to welcome and see Huo Jun off to the Wei River.

In late October, Huo Jun led the imperial army to Taiyuan County first, and stopped in Jinyang to join forces with various troops; in November, Pang Tong and Huo Fan led the Hebei border troops to Jinyang, and 70,000 troops gathered in Taiyuan.

Jinyang, on the banks of the Fen River.

The Han army soldiers set up camp along both sides of the Fen River. Their camp stretched for dozens of miles. There was a lot of noise, horses neighing, and flags waving, and the momentum was extremely huge.

Under the leadership of Jiang Ji, Huo Jun was wearing armor and inspecting the cavalry. He saw the cavalry, led by officers, coming to the bank of the Fen River to wash the dirt off the horses.

Looking at the busy cavalrymen, Huo Jun asked, "Have horseshoes and stirrups become more popular?"

"Except for the Hu cavalry, all the Han cavalry in the country are equipped!"

Jiang Ji said: "After years of training, many Han cavalry are as good as Hu cavalry in riding skills. Among them, the Han army's armored cavalry is particularly elite and cannot be stopped by ordinary cavalry."

In the middle and late stages of the Han-Western contention, horseshoes and double-sided stirrups were already distributed to the Han army at the request of Huo Jun. Considering the issue of technology dissemination, double-sided stirrups were only allowed to be used by elite cavalry.

During the Northern Expedition, when Huo Jun was fighting against Man Chong, Pang De was able to defeat the Wei cavalry with the tactic of shooting from five steps forward, thanks to the double-sided stirrups.

As for horseshoes, they were mostly used to reduce the damage to horses’ hooves during their galloping. During the Northern Expedition of the Southern Han Dynasty to the Central Plains, the horses in the army traveled thousands of miles, and the number of horses lost due to hoof problems would be greatly reduced.

After the unification of China, in order to develop cavalry, double-sided stirrups and horseshoes were already popular among cavalry. The development from single-sided stirrups to double-sided stirrups brought the strength of Han cavalry to a new level.

As for the Takahashi saddle, one of the three great artifacts of cavalry, it had actually appeared in the Eastern Han Dynasty and became popular at the end of the Han Dynasty. Therefore, the Han and Wei countries were able to develop armored cavalry.

There is an interesting story. Huo Jun attached great importance to horseshoes, which can reduce the consumption of war horses. However, after getting to know the Xianbei people, he found that horseshoes had already existed in the Xianbei tribe. However, the Xianbei lacked iron tools, so they used grass and wood as substitutes to reduce the consumption of horse hooves.

In fact, one of the important reasons why the Xianbei people were so powerful during the Northern and Southern Dynasties was that they had tactical advantages, such as the high-bridge saddle, which became popular in the late Han Dynasty, the double-sided stirrup, which was updated by the Northern Dynasties, and the horseshoe, which was invented by the Xianbei people.

When the Han cavalry in the Central Plains was weak, the Xianbei people integrated the three major cavalry artifacts, and with the help of the Central Plains' superb forging technology, developed armored cavalry to its peak and pushed cavalry tactics forward.

The reason why Huo Jun dared to attack the Xianbei was related to the fact that the Han cavalry was the first to gather the three major cavalry artifacts. After the well-established Han cavalry gathered the three major cavalry artifacts, with the blessing of the Central Plains armored soldiers, the average single combat power far exceeded that of the Hu cavalry.

After an inspection, Huo Jun was much more satisfied when he saw that all the Han cavalry were equipped with the three magic weapons and many of them could ride and shoot easily.

Pointing to the cavalry scattered everywhere, Huo Jun said: "Today, when we go out to the border to attack the Hu, the first priority is cavalry, and the second is chariot formation. Ziji should supervise the cavalry's training, check the cavalry's food and supplies, and the health of the horses."

"promise!"

While Huo Jun was talking with Jiang Ji, an attendant came to report, saying, "Prime Minister, all the officers in the army have arrived at the tent and are waiting for your instructions."

"it is good!"

Huo Jun stopped the review and said, "Let's go back to the military meeting and discuss the attack on Kebineng!"

After a while, Huo Jun and Jiang Ji rode to the central army. When their attendants called their names, they put on their armor and drew their swords, and went straight into the big tent.

The previously noisy tent suddenly became quiet, and everyone bowed to Huo Jun in unison.

"This general pays homage to the Prime Minister!"

Huo Jun looked around at the generals in the tent and said with a smile, "I haven't seen you for a long time. Do you still remember my military orders?"

“Keep it in mind!”

Pang Tong was the first to answer, saying: "Although the Prime Minister has not led the army for a long time, our Han army has never changed its order to attack the Prime Minister."

"That's good!"

Huo Jun nodded with satisfaction and said, "Although the world has been peaceful for several years, I am glad that you have not slacked off."

"Sit down!"

After Huo Jun gave the order, the generals dared to sit on the Hu chairs.

"I have just arrived in the northern border and do not yet fully understand the situation. Is there anyone familiar with border affairs who can introduce me to the generals?" Huo Jun asked gently.

There was silence in the tent for a few moments, then Tian Yu stood up and said, "I have been the governor of Yanmen for many years, and I am willing to introduce the Xianbei military situation to the prime minister."

"Good!" Tian Yu walked to the Hetao map, pointed and said, "Report to the Prime Minister, Kebineng was the Chanyu of the Xianbei, and his royal court was located in Chengle, in the old Yunzhong County. The Xianbei often called it Chi Lechuan."

"Kebi Neng ruled the Xianbei, following the old Xianbei system, dividing the area south of the desert into three parts. The leader of the western part was Dou Bin, who was subject to Kebi Neng because of his great power. Although the central part was led by his son-in-law Yu Zhugan, Kebi Neng actually ruled most of the area himself."

"The Eastern Regions are commanded by Kebi Neng's younger brother, Ju Quyuan, who controls the various Hu tribes in Liaodong. Kebi Neng also appointed his third brother, Ju Luohou, as the Western Regions' Commander in Chief in order to conquer the Western Regions. They are now stationed around the Juyan Sea."

"In addition, Kebi Neng sent 50,000 cavalry to pacify the northern desert, while his son Tunwei led the people of the Wanluo tribe to stay in the northern desert and govern the rest of the tribe returned to the southern desert to avoid the winter."

"According to the above arrangements, Kebi Neng now has nearly 200,000 Hu cavalry under his rule, and their power is spread across the east and west, among which the central royal court is the strongest. Fortunately, the Hu tribe in Mobei has just surrendered, and Kebi Neng is not yet able to use them."

After listening to Tian Yu's introduction, the faces of the generals couldn't help but become serious. It would be difficult to deal with such a powerful Xianbei tribe.

As if he could see the generals' worries, Huo Jun said with a relaxed expression: "Kebi is only able to rule the desert. Although the Hu tribe seems to be numerous, they are just a mob. For example, in the west, although Dou Bin of the Xianbei in the west is a great man, the Hu tribes under his rule are mostly scattered and it is difficult for him to unify and govern them."

"The Eastern Xianbei leader Ju Quyuan is a man of great talent and strategy. He seized the fertile pastures of Youzhou and forced the three tribes of Murong, Duan, and Yuwen to flee to Liaodong. If Kebineng is defeated, the three tribes of Liaodong Xianbei will rise up and serve our dynasty."

"As for the Western Regions and Mobei, it is now deep winter and it is inconvenient for them to migrate. It is difficult for them to take care of the central region, so they are not to be feared. Therefore, the current enemy is only the Xianbei in the central region and the Kebi Neng King's court!"

Although nomadic peoples are good at mobility, they are not as easy to gather as agricultural peoples. Agricultural peoples have stored food and fodder, and they can recruit corvée labor to transport food, so they can gather hundreds of thousands of troops and even maintain them for many months without changing locations.

Because nomadic people have large herds of horses, if they gather together, a single pasture will not last long and will be eaten up by the horses.

Therefore, when nomadic peoples faced the northern expedition of agricultural peoples, unless they knew the enemy's marching route in advance, they would often be a step behind. Therefore, their most common tactic was to lure the enemy deep into their territory so that they could gather their forces and fight a decisive battle with the Han army that had penetrated deep into their territory.

On the contrary, nomadic peoples could easily invade the Central Plains dynasties because they had recruited them in advance. As for why the Central Plains dynasties could not prepare in advance, in addition to the difficulty in transmitting intelligence, it was because of the mobility of nomadic peoples. Once they were blocked, they would often change their invasion routes.

The reason why Huo Jun chose to send troops in winter was not only to take advantage of Kebineng's unpreparedness and the royal court was in the south of the desert, but also because he thought it would be difficult for nomadic peoples to gather in advance in winter.

All the famous generals who have made great achievements in defeating nomads in the north have grasped the weaknesses of the nomadic peoples.

For example, in the battle of Puyuhai led by Lan Yu, even though the Northern Yuan Dynasty knew about the Northern Expedition of the Ming Dynasty, it was still unable to gather a large army in advance due to the natural weakness of nomadic people. Instead, Lan Yu found out the location of the royal court and sent cavalry to attack the royal court.

In contrast, in the Battle of Lingbei, the army's movements were discovered by the Northern Yuan Dynasty, so the army lost its advantage of the initiative and fell into the Northern Yuan Dynasty's strategy of advancing deep into the enemy's territory alone, ultimately resulting in a disastrous defeat.

Therefore, when the Central Plains fights nomadic tribes, in most cases, it must make good use of the first-mover advantage.

"Can Guo Rang give a detailed introduction to the court of King Kebineng and the situation of the central Xianbei?" Huo Jun asked.

"promise!"

Tian Yu continued to point at the map and analyzed, "Prime Minister, there are 50,000 to 60,000 tribesmen around the royal court. If our army attacks, Ke Bineng can temporarily summon 50,000 to 60,000 cavalry, most of whom are elite soldiers and horses."

"But the royal court has only more than 10,000 people, and they were stationed in Chengle before. If we start from Yanmen and march hundreds of miles, the army can directly capture Chengle."

"Were you stationed in Chengle before?"

Huo Jun read this sentence carefully and asked, "Does Guo Rang think Ke Bi can move the royal court to another place?"

"Exactly!"

Tian Yu pointed to Budugen who was sitting in the crowd and said, "According to the words of the Chanyu of Gui Han, according to Kebi Neng's personality, although he usually keeps the royal court in the old county of Yunzhong, he often changes the location of the royal court to prevent the sudden attack of the Han army. Now that our army has arrived here, Kebi Neng will definitely move the royal court."

Huo Jun frowned and thought, then asked, "If we give the country to the Chanyu, where will Kebi Neng move to?"

"This~"

Tian Yu looked embarrassed and said, "Shuofang is a vast land with many fertile grasslands and the barbarians are everywhere. It is difficult for Yu to judge now. But the only thing we can judge is that because there are many people in the court of King Kebineng, they will migrate along the river and should be in Yunzhong County."

"Why must it be in Yunzhong County?" Pang Tong asked.

Tian Yu pointed to the map and explained, "Dingxiang is adjacent to Yanmen in Bingzhou, and there are many valleys between mountains, which is not conducive to the assembly of a large army. Wuyuan is backed by mountains and faces the water, which is not conducive to Kebineng's mobilization of a large army; Yunzhong is a vast area with many tribes. If they hear about the movement of the Han army, it will be convenient to recruit the people."

"Yunzhong County?"

Huo Jun narrowed his eyes slightly and muttered with interest. The process of guessing other people's tactics and formulating a plan to defeat the enemy was Huo Jun's pleasure.

"Come here, present a detailed map of Yunzhong. And order scouts to go out of the border to see if they can find the location of the Kebinen Royal Court."

"All troops rest according to the plan and wait for military orders."

"No!" Everyone responded.

ps: Recently my editor asked me to postpone the completion to August 8th. Since the plot story line only ends at the end of the month, I haven't updated or added more chapters.

But considering the lack of updates and the recently added plot, I will make up for it with three updates tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)