My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 325: The Depressed Great Chanyu

In the first year of Emperor Rong Xinyuan, on the twenty-eighth day of the ninth month in autumn.

To the north of Hetao is Gaoque.

Junchen was in a bad mood.

To be precise, it is extremely bad.

From the end of last year, the usual diplomatic blackmail against the Han family failed, to the beginning of this year, an invasion of the Hanbeidi County, which was intended to be a strategic deterrent, failed;
After the war, he once again sent envoys to Chang'an, trying to negotiate "compensation issues" with the Han people, or to find a way out, but he was still firmly rejected by the young Han emperor.

Finally, there was the war this autumn, which was called the "Battle of Honor" by the military officials.

In Junchen's original idea, as early as last autumn, the Han family, which had lost its middle-aged emperor and welcomed the young emperor to the throne and was at a critical moment of power transfer, should have agreed to the blackmail of the Xiongnu Chanyu Ting, just like the previous Han emperors.

At the very least, they had to make a symbolic gesture - regardless of how much stuff they sent, at least they had to show a humble attitude of "the Han and the Huns are brothers, and the Huns are their elder brothers."

The results were clearly unsatisfactory.

But the military officials at the time did not take it seriously, thinking that this was just the young Han emperor who was young and full of vigor and had not experienced the spur of reality;
Just a relaxed war would surely bring a little grassland shock to the young Han emperor, and help him face the reality.

——Recognizing that the strength contrast between the Han and Xiongnu remains, the policy of humiliating marriage adopted by successive Han emperors is the wisest and most cost-effective option.

As a result, the battle with the Northern Dynasty, which was supposed to have been a warning to the Han people and forced the young Han emperor to bow his head, actually added another section of pure steel to the already iron backbone of the young Han emperor.

The little Han emperor is so tough!
Although in the past, the old emperors of the Han people - such as the first Taizu Liu Bang, the later Taizong Liu Heng, and even the recently passed away Emperor Xiaojing Liu Qi - were all stubborn and stubborn, they still had some reason.

What's the point?
The Han was weak, the Xiongnu was strong;

The strong prey on the weak;

As the weaker party, the Han people should naturally bow to the Huns.

But the little emperor of the Han people is so stubborn and unreasonable!

To this day - even though the military operation against Mayi failed this autumn and the control of the Hetao region was unexpectedly lost, Junchen is still 100% sure: comparing the strength between the Han and the Xiongnu, the Xiongnu is still the one with a clear advantage!
If in the past, the strength ratio between the Han and the Xiongnu was 3:7, then the change of ownership of Hetao would at most reduce the ratio from 3:7 to 4:6.

There were four Han people and six Huns.

Even this ratio of 40:60 can only be achieved after the Han people have completely digested the Hetao area and obtained a steady supply of war horses from this natural horse-breeding area, thereby initially completing the construction of the cavalry unit and avoiding the military restraint of both the Han and Xiongnu sides.

At this moment, the Han Dynasty, which had just occupied Hetao and had neither completely digested Hetao nor produced war horses and built cavalry units through Hetao, was no different from the Han Dynasty in the past that had never owned Hetao.

At most, the change of ownership of Hetao improved the Han people's border strategic situation, eased border pressure, gave the Han people more time and space to breathe, and made it more difficult for the Huns to invade the Han country.

But it is nonsense to say that the Hetao area was the reason why the Han and Xiongnu sides changed their offensive and defensive strategies from then on - the Xiongnu no longer dared to invade and plunder the Han Dynasty, but instead had to be wary of the Han people taking the initiative to go out of the border and invade the grassland.

The strategic balance between Han and Xiongnu was not completely broken!
It was just that the balance, which was originally clearly tilted towards the Huns, was slightly balanced, and the gap in strength between the two sides was narrowed.

But even in such a situation, the young emperor of the Han people acted as if the relationship between the Han and the Huns was not that of brothers, but that of father and son!

Although he was clearly at a strategic disadvantage and had a clear disadvantage in military strength, the young Han emperor was like a majestic father. He not only had no awe towards the Xiongnu, an enemy that was even more powerful than himself, but was full of disdain!
If it is just disdain and contempt, that is fine;
But this young Han emperor only despised the Huns strategically, but when it came to specific tactics, he took them extremely seriously!

To this day, military officials still cannot figure out how the Han people were able to sneak into the Hetao area from the lower-lying northern land and quickly gain control of this area south of the Yangtze River.

Although he didn't know exactly what the Han people did, Junchen could still conclude: for this battle - for that night, the little Han emperor must have made complete preparations long ago.

The facts turned out to be just as Junchen had expected.

When Junchen led the main force of the Shanyu Court to return for support and arrived at Gaoque, and then planned whether to launch a surprise attack on Hetao via Hexi, the Han people began to build a pontoon bridge outside Gaoque.

At this moment, standing on the city wall of Gaoque that seemed to tower into the clouds, looking at the floating bridges that were taking shape outside the wall and on the other side of the river, Junchen finally figured out how Hetao was lost.

But what really angered Junchen was not the loss of Hetao...

"We took advantage of their surprise and attacked them when they were least prepared, and seized the Henan land of our Great Xiongnu. This is nothing but treachery on the part of the Han people."

"As long as there are no cavalry, the Han people will not be able to truly defend this land from the blades of our great Xiongnu warriors."

"—as long as there are no cavalry!"

"The Han people do not have cavalry;"

"But I never expected that the tribes of our Great Xiongnu who stayed in Henan would become the most valiant and elite cavalry of the Han people..."

That's right.

What really made the military officials extremely angry at this time were the Hetao tribes who surrendered, changed their allegiance, joined the Han army, contributed to the construction of the Han cavalry forces, and made outstanding contributions.

——Hetao is the best grassland in the grassland!
The tribes stationed in this grassland are all large and powerful tribes that the Chanyu court relies on!
For example, Shanyu Ting suppressed the three tribes in the south of Mu: Zhelan, Baiyang and Loufan. The latter two of them lived in Hetao!

As for the Zhelan tribe, it’s not that Junchen was reluctant to find a habitat for these lunatics in Hetao;

Instead, as an armed force directly under the Chanyu court, the Zhelan tribe was considered the most special tribe in the Xiongnu Empire.

——The Zhelan tribe does not have its own livestock or war horses, nor does it need to engage in daily animal husbandry production.

Every man born in the Zhelan tribe is a warrior!

Every woman born in the Zhelan tribe is the mother of the next generation of warriors!

The only thing every Zhelan person needs to do from the day he is born is to become the best war machine!
Therefore, the men of the Zhelan tribe are brave and aggressive, and the women of the Zhelan tribe are fierce and strong.
The two words "Zhelan" could stop children from crying at night in Munan, and forced the direct descendants of King Youxian, who were stationed and living in Munan and were always ready to make moves, to keep to their duties under the tyranny of the Zhelan tribe.

——The three forces that Shanyu Ting used to suppress Munan were mainly based on the deterrent power of the Zhelan people!
The entire Zhelan tribe was directly supported by the Chanyu court and was a completely non-productive military tribe rather than a nomadic tribe.

From this point of view - from the fact that among the three tribes of the Shanyu court, the two tribes that need grassland both live in Hetao, it is not difficult to understand how excellent the grassland in this area is, and how powerful the tribe is that can live in this grassland and maintain its base.

When Junchen received news in Mayi that the Han people had already set foot in Henan and "basically controlled Henan", he was anxious but still held out a glimmer of hope.

——Although most of the troops of Loufan and Baiyang were withdrawn to Mayi by the military officials, some of them were still left behind;
In addition to those young and immature men, as well as other tribes, even if they could not resist the Han people head-on, they could at least rely on the mobility of the cavalry to deal with the Han people for a while until Junchen led the main force to return for support.

Even if all these people were combined, they still couldn't stop the Han people from taking control of Henan. Some of them were even severely injured by the Han people, but they still dealt a considerable blow to the Han people?
The final result was undoubtedly beyond Junchen's expectations, and it made him experience the pain of being deserted by his friends and relatives.

——The Han people encountered almost no resistance in the south of the wall! The only two tribes that did not submit to the Han people, Loufan and Baiyang, also did not launch an effective resistance against the Han people. Instead, they immediately crossed the river to the north and hid in Gaoque.

The settlements of these two tribes were originally located along the banks of the large river in the northernmost part of the Hetao region. After crossing the river, they would reach Gaoque.

This arrangement was originally intended to allow these two tribes to appear in Munan in the shortest possible time when necessary, and to perform their duties as the "three horses" to suppress the various tribes in Munan.

Unexpectedly, this arrangement, which was originally intended to "stay closer to Munan so that troops can be dispatched at any time", made the two tribes extremely successful - when the Han people were ravaging Henan, they "appeared in Munan" extremely smoothly.

This is all considered good;

The fact that the Loufan and Baiyang tribes did not surrender but instead thought of escaping showed their loyalty to the Chanyu court.

As for the rest of those ungrateful bastards, not only did they surrender to the Han people without a second thought, they also diligently patrolled Henan for the Han people and cleared out the elusive Qiang sheep thieves.

——Over the years, military officials have called for action countless times, and even issued repeated orders, but the Qiang people in the Hetao area have never been eliminated!
On the contrary, the Han people took control of Hetao. Not only did they easily obtain tens of thousands of cavalry from these tribes, they also wiped out the Qiang people who had been a headache for the Xiongnu Chanyu and the military officials for many years!
How could the military officials not be angry about this?
It's all right now;

The Han people established several settlements in Hetao using infantry, thus completing the military control of important areas;
In addition, the Han people had a small number of cavalry, assisted by the cavalry from various tribes in Hetao who were originally loyal to the Xiongnu, so the influence of the Han people had spread to most areas of Hetao.

Then, the Han people began to build the city...

“Han people…”

“Despicable Han people!!!”

Last fall, diplomatic blackmail failed;
At the beginning of this year, military threats failed;
After the war in Chaona, diplomatic negotiations failed again;
This year, Mayi has not made any progress for a long time, so it has lost the Hetao area.

He led the main force back to support the enemy, intending to bypass Hexi and retake Hetao, but was forced to stay in Gaoque because the Han people built a floating bridge.
But outside Gaoque, there is a river that can prevent the Han people from attacking and also prevent the Xiongnu warriors from setting foot on the Hetao...

"Wait until the Han people build a floating bridge, and then counterattack to the other side?"

This idea flashed through his mind for only a moment before the gloomy-faced military official shook his head and rejected it.

——Junchen was very sure that the Han people’s floating bridge would never be completed.

Unless they really intend to capture Gaoque and set foot on Munan, or even seize the land of Munan, otherwise, the Han people's floating bridge will always be in the state of "under construction".

Maybe there will be a day;
In the distant future, perhaps there will really be a day when the Han people will really build a floating bridge outside Gaoque.

But if that day really comes, the military officials at that time will probably have to think carefully about how to fight the defense of Gaoque.

The strategic intention of the Han people to feign an attack on Gaoque in order to attract the attention of the main force of the Xiongnu Chanyu was obvious to all the military officials.

But the military officials were helpless;

Behind Gaoque is Munan.

To be precise: Hetao and Munan were originally separated by a river, and were cut from north to south by the river;
As long as the Han people on the other side of the river crossed the river, they were already on the land of Munan.

In addition to the big river, there is also a high gate as a barrier on the southern border of Munan.

Junchen was very sure: the Han people were gambling.

——I bet that I dare not leave Gaoque alone and turn to consider other things;

The hateful thing is that the Han people made the right bet.

Junchen, I really don’t dare.

Junchen really didn't dare to ignore Gaoque and risk the loss of Gaoque and the exposure of Munan to the Han army by carrying out a large-scale maneuver with extremely low chance of success.

Junchen's original plan was to take advantage of the fact that the Han people placed their strategic focus on the northern part of Hetao, an area across the river from Gaoque, and lead the cavalry to detour to Hexi and re-enter Hetao from the west.

But the reason why Hetao is called "Hetao" is not because there is a big river as a barrier in the north of Hetao - the western and eastern parts of Hetao are also surrounded by big rivers.

Surrounded by the big river on three sides, there is this area called "Hetao".

The Han people left the north, built a floating bridge from the eastern part of Hetao, crossed the river at night, and finally successfully set foot on and captured Hetao;

But Junchen's Xiongnu cavalry group did not have such ability.

—It is impossible to build a floating bridge;

The best we could do was cut down a few huge trees and see if we could build a single-plank bridge directly in the narrow part of the river.

But this is a big river;
The reason why the river is called the "big river" is obviously because it is "big" enough.

In a river named "big", find a narrow river channel where you can build a single-plank bridge...

"go with!"

"Let the right general gather 30,000 soldiers and station them outside Gaoque!"

"——If the Han people on the other side show their heads, send the Eagle Shooters to shoot them!!!"

"Let King Zhelan, King Baiyang, and King Loufan come to my tent with their chests bare and their hands tied behind their backs!"

It is obvious that in this war, whether it was the prolonged siege of Mayi, the subsequent meaningless occupation, or the loss of Hetao, all of these were due to a certain degree of misjudgment made by Junchen at the strategic level.

But just like the Han Dynasty's saying 'the emperor cannot be wrong, the only thing wrong can be the world': on the grassland, the Chanyu cannot be wrong either.

Right now, what Junchen has to do is naturally not simply to find someone to take the blame.

Even if they are to take the blame, it shouldn’t be these three.

What Junchen really wants to do is to use the loss of the Hetao region - the "inaction" of the remaining forces of the Baiyang and Loufan tribes - to give these three leaders a serious warning.

Then, of course, these three groups will learn from their mistakes and do something.

Let alone retaking Hetao, at least we must let the Han people on the other side understand that the world is so big, and any place where grass grows is definitely not a place where the despicable Han people can show off their power...

(End of this chapter)