My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 323: A battle of wits and courage?

In Chang'an, the gears of fate began to turn;
Wei Qing, one of the two arms of the empire and one of the two greatest heroes in history, has begun to move towards the peak of his life.

Thousands of miles away in Henan, a war whose outcome had already been determined and was destined to be tragic was gradually approaching as a city wall rose from the ground.

——The construction of Bowang City has officially started.

According to the Shaofu's plan, Bowang City would be like the cities in the Central Plains, square and facing east, south, west and north.

The city is ten miles from east to west and six miles from north to south, and can accommodate 10,000 households of military dependents.

Outside the city, military camps were set up in the east and west of the city, each manned by 5,000 regular border guards.

As for the city, in the future there will be 10,000 border guards and 10,000 families corresponding to these 10,000 Shuofang border guards.

It is a bit like the military households of later times;

But unlike the hereditary military household system that was unavoidable, the model of Bowang City was more like the Qin Dynasty's policy of settling immigrants on the border to absorb the newly conquered land.

——The current King of Nanyue, Zhao Tuo, is the product of this policy.

Once upon a time, Zhao Tuo followed the order of the First Emperor and, as an adjutant, followed the chief general Ren Xiao and led a full 500,000-man army southward;
The 500,000 troops here are naturally not 500,000 well-trained elites who have been on the battlefield for a long time, but 500,000 old Qin good family men who have received basic military training but most of them have never been on the battlefield.

After these 500,000 people arrived in Lingnan and expanded the territory for Qin, they neither returned to the capital nor returned to their hometowns. Instead, they stayed there and became the first group of immigrants moved by the Qin court to the Lingnan region.

On weekdays, these people also work on the fields and lead a life like ordinary farmers.

When something happens, they can always display the glorious tradition of the Qin people: if they carry a hoe, they are farmers; if they pick up a long spear, they are soldiers!

Later generations often say that the Qin Dynasty fell because its system was too advanced, which seriously failed to meet the background of the times and the progress of civilization, so that it "took too big a step and ended up hurting its balls."
It is not difficult to see this from the way Qin developed the Lingnan area back then.

——The development of the Lingnan region by Zhao Tuo with those 500,000 people was the production and construction corps that the Chinese civilization still used in the new era of later generations!
More than 2,000 years later, the new China can still use this system, and it can even play a considerable role. If it was put in the era of more than 2,000 years ago, how could it not be "nonsense"...

As for the two commanderies that Liu Rong decided to station in Bowang City, they are different from the military households in the later Ming Dynasty and the new era corps. Compared with the latter two, the two commanderies who will be stationed in Bowang City for a long time in the future will focus more on military affairs rather than agricultural production and construction.

——In principle, the Chang'an court will not completely cut off the logistics and baggage supply to Bowang City.

All the military rations that should be given will be distributed to the soldiers.

The only difference is that the soldiers of other troops can fight with peace of mind after receiving military rations. They don’t have to worry about not having enough to eat or going to the battlefield hungry, and they can even have enough energy to take care of their families.

After receiving military rations, the two captains of Bowang City can complete the military tasks assigned by their superiors with peace of mind: farming.

That’s right;

For the two captains of Bowang City, farming is not a necessity of life, but a military mission!

The reason is very simple: the Chinese nation's blood has always carried the awareness that "you can only survive where you can farm."

What Liu Rong had to do was to use military orders to use these two divisions of officers and soldiers to tell the world that the Hetao area was suitable for farming;

For the Chinese people, being able to farm means being able to survive.

In this way, whether the Chang'an court decides to send immigrants to Shuofang County to settle on the border, or to send similar "farming and warfare" troops to Bowang City, the resistance will be much smaller.

As for the land and crops that the soldiers reclaimed near Bowang City, Liu Rong was also very generous: the land belongs to whoever reclaims it;

The food belongs to whoever grows it.

In other words, the military mission of "farming" can not only bring stable side income to the soldiers defending Bowang City, but also allow them to easily purchase considerable land.

Of course, the Hetao area is not very suitable for farming.

To be precise, compared with reclamation and cultivation, this land is more suitable for the development of animal husbandry.

But that’s okay;

Liu Rong was willing to pay such a small price and give up 3-5 percentage points of land in Hetao to attract people from all over the world to settle there.

This is exactly the meaning of the existence of Bowang City.

——Bowang, what it was looking at was never the north in the physical sense, but a goal that was farther and more grand than the north and the Huns.

There is a saying in the Qin Dynasty: When the six kings are gone, the world will be one.

Liu Rong hoped that a hundred years later, China would have one more sentence: Nomadic and agricultural peoples are all Chinese, and Rome bows down to the Han Dynasty as a vassal...

"Hasn't the main force of the Chanyu Court arrived at Gaoque yet?"

"How come it's been so long and there's still no movement?"

Bowang City - or rather, outside the northern 'city wall' of Bowang City which has not yet been built and does not even have a prototype;

Marquis Luan Bu of Yu stopped his horse and looked at the Han soldiers who were still patrolling back and forth on the south bank of the river a few miles away, his brows tightly furrowed.

Beside Luan Bu, Han Tuidang, Marquis of Gonggao, Liu Fei, King of Jiangdu, and others all had puzzled yet worried expressions, their eyes all fixed on the distant bank of the river.

"When something goes wrong, there must be a monster..."

"What on earth are you planning, old thief Junchen?"

As a surrendered general who was born and raised in the grassland, or the first overseas student in Chinese history, Han Tuidang knew the temperament of the Huns, or the nomadic peoples of the grassland very well.

——When Han Tuidang surrendered to the Han Dynasty, it was still the early years of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, which was more than 30 years ago.

As the youngest prince of the Han King's tribe, Han Tuidang had naturally met the previous generation's Shanyu Shangjizhou and was quite familiar with his character.

As for the current Junchen Chanyu, when Han Tuidang saw him for the last time, Junchen was still the dissolute Zuo Xian Wang who rode a pony and spent his days indulging in wine and women.

Han Tuidang had very limited understanding of military officials, especially adult military officials.

But no matter how limited it was, Han Tuidang could still smell an extremely strong scent of danger from the current situation.

——The time has come to the first year of Emperor Rong Xinyuan, the end of September in autumn.

In a few days, it will be the New Year.

More than ten days had passed since the Han army estimated that the main force of the Chanyu Court would arrive on September 15th.

But Gao Que has not changed at all so far.

Logically speaking, the main force of Shanyu Ting was attacking Mayi in Daibei, and when they heard that Hetao had changed hands, they would surely rush back to provide support without stopping.

This can also be indirectly confirmed by the fact that Cheng Buzhi abandoned Mayi and his plan to lure the enemy deep into his territory failed.

——In order to rescue Hetao, Junchen no longer cared about the God-given opportunity to cross Mayi and set foot in Yanmen County!
This is very strange. Since the military officials in Daibei and Mayi made a firm decision to return to support immediately after receiving the news of Hetao, the subsequent marching speed will inevitably increase to the limit of the Xiongnu cavalry!

That is: one person has three horses, riding them in turns, eating on the horses when hungry and resting on the horses when tired;

No matter what, we must not stop for even a moment to get help!

If the speed continues, the main force of Shanyu Ting should have arrived at Gaoque around September 10th in autumn.

As for the estimated date of September 15, the Han army made the most optimistic assumption, assuming that the main force of the Xiongnu Chanyu's court traveled during the day and rested at night.

This was the most optimistic speed for the Han army and the slowest speed for the Xiongnu to respond.

As long as they were riding horses instead of walking, no matter how slow the Huns were, they should not have failed to reach Gaoque on the morning of September 16th.

Therefore, all the Han army, from Luan Bu down, agreed that the main force of the Shanyu Ting led by Junchen had returned to Gaoque to provide support at the latest by the evening of September 15th.

Then, there was the eerie silence of the past ten days.

——No movement!
Gaoque was as usual, everything remained the same as before, and the Xiongnu soldiers on the tower remained the same;

The main force of the Chanyu Court, which was "bound to arrive", not only failed to make Gaoque show a change in its strategic stance, it even failed to reveal its own presence!

It was as if the main force of the Chanyu court had never arrived at Gaoque at all - at least no large group of more than 10,000 people had arrived.

This made Luan Bu and other veterans very anxious. They always wanted to do something, but they could do nothing.

Question: What kind of executioner scares death row inmates the most?

A: Not those quick and decisive people who are quick to act.
Instead, it was those old bastards who just held the knife high, letting the prisoners endure the mental torture, but were reluctant to put down the knife.

Human beings are never afraid of dangers that have already arrived, but are more afraid of dangers that are bound to come but have never arrived.

——A knife is always the most frightening when it’s hanging over your head, not when it’s chopping at your neck.

The current Han army generals are in a similar state...

"If it really doesn't work, let Suiying build a few more bridges and attack Gaoque directly!"

"Whether we can take it down or not is not the point. At least we can know what the situation is like inside Gaoque."

"——If that old thief Junchen is in Gaoque, and my army goes out in full force to attack Gaoque, Junchen will surely be terrified and send more troops to garrison Gaoque."

"If he's not here, then even if we can't capture Gaoque, we can always catch a few tongues and interrogate them properly?"

After a long silence, it was finally Liu Fei, the young and hot-tempered King of Jiangdu, who lost his temper and began to complain in annoyance.

Seeing everyone looking at him, Liu Fei did not show any embarrassment, but continued indignantly: "Do we really have to wait like this?"

"——We know that his military officials have bad intentions and are surrounded by heavy troops, but we have no idea what he wants to do."

"It's even possible that we don't even know where he is or where he's coming from."

"Instead of enduring like this, it's better to take the initiative..."

After hearing this, everyone understood.

——Your Highness the Prince of Jiangdu, he couldn't stand the mental torture of having a hidden blade hanging over his head, so he started complaining.

As for Liu Fei's proposal of "forceful attack on Gaoque", in the eyes of everyone, especially Luan Bu, it was basically completely unfeasible.

The original significance of Qinguan Gaoque was to leave a wallhead for the Qin army outside Hetao, on the other side of the river, to prevent the other side of the river from completely escaping from the Qin army's control, making it impossible for the Qin army to easily cross the river and set foot in Munan.

In other words, Gaoque was not actually defending the Henan area across the river, but the grassland Munan area to the north.

But today, Gaoque has become a barrier for the Xiongnu on the north side of Hetao, blocking the Han army from going north out of Hetao, crossing the river and setting foot in Munan.

Especially with the river serving as a moat, the strategic significance of Gaoque was raised to the level of a fortress and strong pass like Hangu Pass.

——Hangu Pass, shouldering the Han Dynasty’s basic mission: the stability of Guanzhong;
Gaoque was responsible for the security of the Huns' base camp: Munan.

From this perspective, the temptation of capturing Gaoque to the Han emperor, ministers, and generals was actually no less than that of capturing Henan.

But the temptation of something is great enough, often precisely because the difficulty of obtaining it is positively correlated with its inherent temptation in a geometrically increasing manner.

How about taking down Gaoque?

Of course!

As long as they control Gaoque, the Han family will have a bridgehead in the Munan area that is more solid than Yunzhong!

Whether to fight or make peace, to advance or retreat, it is all up to the Han family to decide!
If they wanted to fight, the Han army could cross the river to the north and go out of Shuofang, using Gaoque as a fulcrum to disperse and launch an offensive towards the vast Munan area;

Or they could head towards the hinterland of the Chaomunan region: Longcheng, directly threatening the political power center of the Xiongnu and shaking the foundation of the Xiongnu’s rule on the grassland!
If they wanted to take a break, or simply not fight, with Gaoque "keeping watch" on the other side of the river, Shuofang County would no longer have to worry about security issues in the north, and could farm in peace for a few years, or even concentrate on dealing with the Hexi Corridor in the west.

But is Gaoque easy to defeat?
From this moment, when Luan Bu looked at Liu Fei as if he were an idiot, it was not difficult to know that it would be difficult to fight him.

It’s really hard to fight.

To the extent that the proposal of "attacking Gaoque" seemed a little ridiculous to Luan Bu, even though these words came from the mouth of Jiangdu King Liu Fei, Luan Bu could not help but show contempt on his face.

Feeling the unprecedented and undisguised contempt in Luan Bu's eyes, Liu Fei was embarrassed, but secretly realized;
——During the past period of time, the image of a "military expert" that I had established in front of the generals had completely collapsed.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, Gonggao Hou Han Tuidang looked at Liu Fei thoughtfully, and then looked at his old friend: Yu Hou Luan Bu intriguingly.

"I, do agree with King Jiangdu's proposal..."

Ok?
what's the situation?
What, Marquis Gonggao, you don’t know anything about military affairs?
That’s Gao Que!
A high palace with a big river as its moat and the Qin passes and walls as its main fortifications!

It was easy to talk when the upper and lower lips touched;

If we really mobilize the troops and suffer tens of thousands of casualties, I'm afraid we won't even be able to touch the parapets at the top of the Gaoque!

Thinking of this, everyone couldn't help but look at Luan Bu, waiting for Luan Bu to make the expected comment on this apparently idiotic plan.

But when Luan Bu's expression changed from astonishment and confusion at the beginning, to thoughtfulness, and then to vague understanding and approval, everyone was stunned.

it's over...

The commander, Luan Bu, was also stunned...

(End of this chapter)