I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 423 Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
"My king, please forgive me."

The spy frowned and replied in panic,

"The Han army passed by with smoke and dust everywhere. I couldn't see clearly and it was difficult to estimate. But judging from the smoke and dust, the total number is probably not less than ours!"

"impossible!"

Tiefu still refused to believe this was true, and shook his head and denied it loudly,

"First of all, the Han army only has about 30,000 soldiers and infantry when they go west through Yumen Pass. They can't mobilize so many cavalry!"

"Secondly, if such a large number of Han troops were mobilized, it would definitely make a lot of noise. There is no way they could avoid the spies we sent to explore the gap in Tianshan Mountain, and it is even more impossible for them to appear so close to our army without our army noticing!"

"Secondly, the Tianshan gap is nearly 700 miles away from here. Even if we march day and night, it will take at least four or five days. Our army has only arrived at Jiaohe City for a few hours. How can the Han army avoid our spies and come so quickly? Can they fly?"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Although he said so, Tiefu dared not take it lightly. He immediately gathered together a group of miscellaneous kings who had not yet sat down and had not yet finished setting up their tents, explained to them the situation reported by the spies, and discussed the next countermeasures.

"impossible!"

"Absolutely impossible!"

"If this is true, I will let my precious Dawan horse mate with me!"

A group of miscellaneous kings also refused to believe it. Not only did some of them swear immediately, but several others immediately expressed that they would go and check the authenticity of the news in person. They had to see it with their own eyes to believe it.

"Wait a minute!"

Tiefu had no choice but to call these people back and gave the order,

"I don't believe it either. But if the Han cavalry is less than ten miles away from here, I'm afraid they can fight against our army in half an hour. How can they have time to investigate?"

"Pass on my order. Stop setting up the camp immediately and gather your troops to prepare for battle!"

"If it is true, our army has taken precautions, and it will be difficult for the Han army to break through."

"If it's false, our army won't suffer any loss. We just need to set up the camp before dark."

……

"Cough! Cough! Cough!"

Several Han army captains covered their mouths and noses with sackcloth and led teams of Han cavalry in a line to gallop across the Gobi Desert. Even so, they were still choked by the large amount of dust and smoke and coughed repeatedly.

Because their horses were dragging a trail of lush branches behind them.

This is the "chaos tactic" commonly used by the Mongolian cavalry, to put it bluntly, it is just bluffing.

In addition to dragging branches to deliberately raise dust, the Mongol cavalry would also install straw dummies, children, and women on the spare cavalry horses to make their side appear much larger than it actually was, in order to intimidate and deter the enemy.

The actual tactics are far less mysterious and ingenious than many people imagine.

As the saying goes, a heavy sword has no edge. Usually, after truly understanding them, you will find that those tactics are actually very simple. A surprise attack is also based on information gap and morale gap, plus a part of adventurous spirit. In this era without satellites overhead, information gap is also the easiest to create.

However, this "chaotic tactic" was only used on the left and right flanks, each with only a thousand cavalry.

Liu Ju, Zhao Po Nu and Wang Hui led 5,000 cavalrymen who were assembled and divided into the front army, the central army and the rear army, and surrounded the Hun army from three directions from the front and both wings.

Now the Xiongnu army is stationed outside Jiaohe City, with their backs to Jiaohe River, and a situation of fighting with their backs to the river has formed.

However, Liu Ju would not let the Xiongnu "fall into a desperate situation and then survive, put them in a dead end and then live". The idea of ​​"besieging the army must have a gap" not only influenced the Celestial Empire, but also had a profound impact on the Mongolian cavalry of later generations. They would also deliberately leave gaps for the enemy, and when they lost their fighting spirit and fled in all directions, they would take advantage of the chaos to ambush and kill them, and called it "open tactics". This happened only half an hour later.

The Han army could now see the Xiongnu army from a distance, and the two front armies were less than three miles apart.

"It's actually true..."

Not until now did Youriju King Tiefu and a group of other Xiongnu kings finally believe the news reported by the spies, but they had already been surrounded by the Han army.

In fact, when they received the spy report.

The encirclement had already been formed. It would not be a wise move for them to break out rashly without knowing the situation of the Han army. They might be ambushed and eventually divided and destroyed by the Han army.

At least in Tiefu's opinion, in this situation, it is more important to conserve and reduce military forces.

Even if a breakout is necessary, one should first understand the situation and then concentrate superior forces to attack one point. This will make it easier to break through the encirclement and escape.

at the same time.

"Sima Jianjun, come and see, His Highness's reinforcements have arrived!"

Su Wu was standing on the city wall, looking down from above. He could see the Han army confronting the Huns across the Huns' camp, and he immediately shouted excitedly.

"General Su, are you so eager for reinforcements that you are dazzled..."

Even Sima Qian didn't believe that the Han army could come to support so quickly. It had only been a few hours. How could it be different from a sudden fall from the sky? However, when he climbed up the city wall and looked into the distance, his eyes widened immediately, and he exclaimed in surprise,

"Oh my god, it's really here?!"

"How can this be?!"

"How on earth did your Highness do this?!"

But he soon had another question:

"Since Your Highness is so capable, why don't you wait until dark and then attack the Xiongnu camp at night?"

"The Xiongnu will be unprepared by then, and we might be able to break through the camp in one fell swoop. We can then take the opportunity to break out of the city and make it impossible for them to take care of both ends."

"Now, the Han army and the Xiongnu are in a standoff. Does Your Highness intend to fight the Xiongnu head-on?"

Sima Qian's doubts were not unreasonable, as he and Su Wu both knew the actual situation of the Han army.

The Han army was at a disadvantage in terms of cavalry numbers. Even if the spare horses that accompanied them and the horses captured from the Gushi Kingdom were put together, they would definitely not reach ten thousand, which was still a far cry from the nearly 20,000 cavalry of the Xiongnu army.

Therefore, a head-on battle seems unrealistic no matter how you think about it...

"Sima Jianjun, do you think it is possible that if Your Highness attacks the Xiongnu camp at night, we will not be able to tell whether they are Han troops or not, or even what the situation is in the Xiongnu camp. We will definitely not dare to rush out of the city."

Su Wu pondered again and said,
"And the reason why His Highness attacked at this time is precisely to let us see clearly, so that we can distinguish between the enemy and ourselves, and leave the city at the right time to support his actions?"

"This……"

Sima Qian had to admit that Su Wu's analysis did make some sense, but soon he made a new discovery and couldn't help asking again,
"General Su, look at the formation our cavalry has formed now. Doesn't it look like a bow bent in reverse? Have you ever seen our cavalry form such a strange formation before... Oh my God!"

"The Xiongnu army is still waiting and watching, but our army has taken the lead in launching the charge!"

(End of this chapter)